Catch Me If I Fall
by Sese Daniels
Summary: My name is Halle Mitchell, and I am a detective working for the MPD. My partner is an arrogant braggart named Hanai, and regardless of how much he pisses me off, he changed my life by showing me what it really meant to be a good cop. Unfortunately, all it took for that to happen was a psycho attacking the people Hanai loved, and I had to watch as this case destroyed my partner.
1. Chapter 1

"So, you caught him!?"

"We did! He's a repeat offender, so I'm glad we were able to get him off the streets quickly."

"I'm so relieved! Thank you, Officer Mitchell!"

"Don't mention it." The young woman set her elbows on her desk as she let her charming, smiling face rest in her hands, looking up at the old woman standing before her. "It's all thanks to your eyewitness information, ma'am."

Her name was Halle Mitchell, and this bright, young, twenty-four-year-old was easily the most talented and kind woman in her entire police department. She was a simple public safety officer working in Japan, but she took pride in her job.

She was also about as crazy, short-tempered, and daring as they came. 'Nice' was just one of her better qualities. 

Halle was a short one, standing at five feet and four inches tall. She had a light almond-colored bob haircut that dusted at her shoulders, and it was naturally straight and framed her face. Two obscure pieces of hair on each side of her head always stuck  
out, which annoyed her to no ends, since she could never get them to stay down no matter _what_ hair product she used. Her coworkers thought it just made her look even cuter than she already did. Her bright, raspberry-colored eyes shone behind  
her short bangs cut straight across her forehead, and her milky-colored skin glowed in the warm sunlight.

Although you were expected to dress plain and professional-like for this type of job, that didn't stop Halle from bending the rules slightly to make herself look nicer when she was at work. She wore the same black work slacks as every other woman in her  
department, but she modified the remainder of her wardrobe just a little.

Instead of wearing a less-flattering pair of one-inch black heels for the sake of convenience, Halle wore stylish black platform pumps with a _four inch_ heel.

Rather than a boring button-up buttoned all the way up to the collar as her shirt, she wore a cute little white button-up blouse that clung to her figure nicely, and she only buttoned it up to the top of her chest, leaving a good portion of her neck and  
chest exposed. This allowed for the little blue amulet she always wore to be seen; she liked to wear it with pride.

She rolled up her sleeves halfway up her arms to be less restricting, and swung over her office chair was her floor-length black trench coat that she always wore.

She kept her short hair down every day, since there really was no need to put it up given that it was only shoulder-length.

Halle always had a cute, but respectable amount of makeup on her face that drew more attention to her eyes, rather than the two pistols she had tucked under her arms resting in the holster she wore over her shoulders. She wore her badge proudly and pinned  
it right on her hip, allowing anyone walking by to see it.

Halle was a proud, confident woman who knew how to handle herself pretty well. She was a lot more mature than most women her age, and although she could be a little reckless, she was very wise. Halle often gave her friends, family, and coworkers great  
problem-solving advice, but ironically she never knew where to start when it came to solving her _own_ personal problems.

Everyone had their flaws, right? Well, that was just one of her many flaws. She was dense, oblivious, had a _terrible_ sense of direction, was unable to trust guys with her heart enough to date anyone, was a huge klutz most of the time, and not to  
mention the bottomless pit that was her stomach...

"Is that you, Halle?"

"Hmm?" Halle snapped out of her thoughts as she lifted her head up from her hands, and she peered over at the man who spoke to her. His name was Mr. Sato, and he was another citizen Halle had been helping recently. "Oh, Mr. Sato! How's everything going?"

"Great!" The gentleman in his mid-forties clapped his hands together excitedly as he beamed at the young woman. "Your advice really helped with our peeping-tom situation."

"Really?" Halle elicited the brightest, delighted grin as she listened to this.

He nodded his head vigorously, and he began to use his hands to demonstrate his methods. "I put that gravel down outside the window, just like you said. Now, you can hear it crunch whenever someone walks by!" He smiled brightly at the police officer before  
him. "Now, the peeping-toms don't come around anymore!"

Halle felt a huge weight get lifted from her chest as a sense of relief washed over her nerves. "That's great!"

She worked in the West Arai Police Department's Community Safety Unit. As far as job titles go, she was a detective. She was still super green, however, this only being her second year on the force. And technically, she _was_ considered a "detective,"  
but not the type of detective she _really_ wanted to be. Halle hadn't even done any work in the field yet, for god's sake! (Unless you counted getting into bar fights occasionally and _winning_ as field work...). It was really depressing  
for a wild one like her to be cooped up at her desk all day, but at least it was _something_. She was the best in her department, although that didn't really say much... There really wasn't much to compete against here at West Arai.

Her friends always told her she didn't look like a detective, and that she didn't really carry herself as one either. Well of _course_ she didn't; Halle carried herself as a woman, and any girl that adorable looking and young wouldn't look like a  
detective on the outside. That didn't stop her from dreaming of becoming a real detective one day, though. A detective who went out in the field and fought with bad guys, inevitably making Japan a better, safer place to live in.

The old woman from earlier smiled gently at Halle from where she stood next to Mr. Sato. "We can rest easy with you around, Officer Mitchell."

Mr. Sato nodded his head in agreement. "Yes, we're in good hands with you."

Halle's cheeks flushed a slight pink shade as she awkwardly averted her gaze. "You guys are too kind, really..."

She didn't deal with serial killers, terrorists, the mafia, or even plain old murderers, even though that was what she really wanted to do... People came to her with their problems, and they worked together to solve them. That was the kind of detective  
work she was best at.

...or at least the only detective work she had done in the past two years.

However, Halle was a strong believer in the community, and she always thought that creating a safe environment for people to live in was a very important job.

So even though she was stuck inside doing paperwork and helping out citizens in any way she could, Halle was just happy she was doing good and making a difference in the world.

Well, at least that was what she _thought_ , until that young man called her name one day, unintentionally pushing her life into gear and leading her down the right path to her fate.

"Are you Detective Mitchell?"

Halle blinked owlishly at the person standing behind the old woman and Mr. Sato, and the two quickly dismissed themselves from her once they saw she was now busy.

The young man was about five-foot ten-inches tall, and he appeared to be around his early thirties. Thirty-three, perhaps? He was dressed in a warm-grey colored suit with a salmon tie, and he had orange-brown hair that was swept across his forehead to  
the left. His brown eyes matched the color of his hair and the scruff on his chin, but his smile was kind, which set Halle at ease.

"Yes, sir." Halle folded her arms across her desk, studying his face quizzically. Who _was_ this guy? She felt like she had seen him once before...

Without bothering to introduce himself, he firmly addressed her with some very unexpected information. "You're going to the MPD."

Halle was slack-jawed as this news reached her ears, and she dropped the pen she was holding and accidentally let it clatter on her desk. "The... Metropolitan _Police_ Department!?"

"Yep." His eyes crinkled as he smiled brightly at her from just hearing the name of the MPD.

Halle's shoulders fell in astonishment, but she grew wary in attempt to not get her hopes up. "Um... Forgive me, but what do you mean by that?"

His smile fell into a more relaxed expression as he held out some sort of notice to her. "You're moving to the Metro Police Special Investigations Unit today. Look."

Halle accepted the memo from the unfamiliar man as she let her eyes skim the paper, reading the contents out loud. "Notice of Personnel Transfer. Detective Halle Mitchell is hereby transferred from the West Arai Community Safety Unit to the Metropolitan  
Special Investigations: Second Unit. Effective immediately." As she finally reached the bottom of the page, her eyes flew up insanely quick to look at the man before her. "What!?"

"See?" He chuckled at her amusing reaction, not quite expecting her to be so surprised.

"Transferred?" Halle's jaw seemed to only drop further and further, so surprised she couldn't even process this. "But I haven't heard anything about this..."

"Well, yeah, obviously." The guy laughed a little at her silly expression. "This is my first time telling you."

Halle found herself tripping over her words, and her expression wavered a little. "I guess, but..."

"It's a promotion." He cut her off, trying to sound positive in attempt to persuade her. "The guys in Special Investigations are our best and brightest. They go after the big dogs."

"Best and brightest...?" Her anticipation seemed to only grow more and more with each passing word.

Best and brightest? The big dogs?

Could this be her one chance at being a big-shot detective in Japan!?

"Well, yes." The guys seemed to backtrack a little after hearing her repeat his compliment. "But they're definitely a little...eccentric, too."

She blinks her eyes once, twice. "...eccentric?"

"Never mind about that." His mouth fell open to form a bright smile, and he beamed at her brightly as he ignored her inquiry. "Anyway, good luck!"

"Hey, wait a second!" Halle shot straight up from her desk and nearly fell over as the man turned to leave, being a huge klutz as well.

"Oh, sorry about that." The guy seemed to remember now that he never even introduced himself, and he paused to flash her a charming smile. "I'm Tadanobu Nomura with the Metro PD." He reached out to shake her hand. "Just call me Nomura. Remember that name."

"No, that wasn't what I was going to..." Her words fell on deaf ears, because Nomura had already up and left her, practically disappearing into thin air. "...ask."

Halle plopped back down into her desk chair and sighed heavily from shock. Did that really just happen? She didn't fall asleep at her desk again, then just dream that whole thing, did she? Ouch! Nope, she definitely didn't fall asleep, according to that  
pinch she just gave herself.

As this was beginning to process in her mind, a bright, joyful smile seemed to find its way to her pink lips. She shot straight up from her chair and grabbed her trench coat, throwing it on as she immediately ran off from her desk and motioned to start  
making her way to Metro PD's headquarters.

Yes! She was finally going to be a _real_ detective!

* * *

 **Helloooooo! So technically, this is a** ** _Metro PD: Close To You_** **fanfiction, but it can honestly just be read as a normal romance novel just like my other voltage game fanfiction** ** _To Love The Lawyer_** **. This is based on Kazusa Hanai's route, since I love him so much, and his personality is a perfect one to match my own character's.**

 **Sooooooo I can tell you guys right now, I think you'll really like this book! I'm changing it up a bunch and adding my own personal touches, so you won't be bored, and you'll enjoy this! No regrets if you read this, I promise!**

 **Halle Mitchell (Hal-lee Mi-ch-ull): main character in all of my voltage inc fan fictions, except they each differ in age, appearance, background, personality, etc... The only thing they have in common is their name.**

 **Ground rules: do not, and I repeat** ** _do NOT_** **review this story begging me to update. I hate those reviews.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any of Voltage Inc's games. I just write fanfiction for them because I'm obsessed and my love life is as nonexistent as the transition period between Halloween and Christmas.**

 **Claimer: I own my main character Halle, as well as any other OCs and any changes to the plot.**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


	2. Chapter 2

"Oh, you've gotta be _kidding_ me!"

Halle pulled at her hair frustratingly, turning around in circles and wandering around Tokyo's streets aimlessly. Several people walking by her on the crosswalks shot her weird looks at her awkward outbursts occasionally, but they continued to walk down the streets and sidewalks minding their own business.

She left her station two _hours_ ago for the MPD, and she still hadn't found it yet.

Halle pouted furiously to herself as she desperately tried to look for some sort of sign to guide her to the police station, but she was having no luck. To anyone walking by, she looked like a lost tourist spinning around in circles with a silly frown on her face.

Not only was she lost, _again_ , but she didn't understand the sudden transfer. Not that she was complaining, but it was a little strange. Was it a mistake? It had to be for someone like _her_ to get transferred, right? It's not like she was bad at her job, but... Special Investigations? Getting promoted to _that_ unit, and to the MPD no less, was a huge shock. A dream come true, even!

Halle stopped in front of a large, eighteen floor office building of some sort. Based on the look on her face, all enthusiasm and hope that this really _was_ a dream come true had been crushed.

This _has_ to be a mistake...

And with that thought, she whirled around with the intention of going back the way she came.

Except...

"Ow!"

"Ouch!"

"Hey, watch where you're going..."

"Oops, I'm so sorry!"

Halle had turned around and slammed _right into_ some poor guy walking her way. The man was dressed in a three-piece black suit and a red tie, and he had light brown hair a similar shade to her own that was short and spiky. Unlike her raspberry-kissed eyes, he had sharp brown ones that looked like they could go anywhere between unnervingly kind to insanely fierce.

Halle looked completely distraught and inwardly kicked herself as she frowned sadly to the man. "I'm really, really sorry! God, I'm such a klutz!" She abruptly slapped her forehead _hard_ , making a very awkward and scatter-brained first impression.

He chuckled at her amusing reaction, not expecting a woman to backlash in such a way. "What brings you to the MPD today?"

"The MPD?" Halle dropped all of her gusto as she blinked at this man strangely. "What do you mean?"

He smiled at her wryly before pointing to the building they were standing in front of. "You're standing right in front of it..."

Halle dropped her jaw and whirled around, and she pulled at her hair again when she realized she had nearly passed right by the gargantuan building. "What!? I can't believe I almost got lost _again!"_

The man made a "pfft" sound as he scoffed at the peculiar woman. He looked her up and down quickly before coming to a conclusion. "Are you a tourist?"

"A tourist?" Halle tilted her head to the side as she looked at the man curiously.

Well, she didn't really _look_ Japanese, to be fair. Her mother was a French heiress, and her father was a rich Japanese businessman; both her and her brother were only _half_ Japanese. Halle had raspberry colored eyes for crying out loud and light brown hair, taking after her mother in the looks department. It made sense that he would think she was a tourist.

Halle quickly shook her head. "Oh, no, I..."

The man didn't let her finish as he stood next to her, placing one hand on her shoulder and using the other to point in a different direction. "Head this way to get to the Imperial Palace, go that way to Ginza, and the other way for the International Forum." Stone-faced, he pointed her in a variety of directions.

...she had lived in Japan her whole life and didn't know any of those things off the top of her head. You know, since her sense of direction _sucked_.

"Oh, wait, no... I think you have the wrong idea." Halle waved her hands back and forth defensively, trying to get a word in. "You see, I..."

The man didn't seem to hear her at all as he turned to her with a kind smile. "Got it?" He wondered if she understood the directions he just gave her.

She took a step backwards, intimidated by the strength of his intense gaze. "...yeah. I got it."

"Well, take care." He waved good-bye to her without even giving her a second thought, and the man strode towards the entrance of the MPD building.

Halle found herself staring at his back as she watched him go, and she frowned a little to herself. "I guess he's a detective here or something..."

Suddenly, the man stopped and turned back to look at her once more, having just thought of something else to add. "You should hurry and go. Someone will think you're suspicious, loitering around here like that."

Halle dropped her jaw down to the floor _. "Suspicious!?"_ She yelled at him, and all he did in return was laugh at her.

Hey, that was mean! She was a bit dorky, yes, but not suspicious looking!

He shrugged his shoulders as if he noticed nothing wrong with what he said. "I mean, _I_ thought so."

And with that, he quickly went into the building.

What was _that_ all about? Suspicious...? Yeah, right! She was a detective too!

...just a very lost detective who got turned around too many times on her way here.

He seemed like a real straight-laced, top-notch investigator of some sort.

...and she had totally ran _right into him_ because of her klutziness.

Halle whirled around and abruptly _slammed her head_ on a nearby light post, squinting her eyes shut in embarrassment. "Ugh, I'm such an _idiot!"_

* * *

MPD Special Investigations: seventh floor, Second Unit.

First Unit was a bunch of cops gunning for the glory, and they were all very strict and uptight. They were considered the best cops in the MPD, despite their awful personalities and lack of common sense in the police work area of expertise, but the _Second_ Unit...

Well, simply put, they were cops as good as First Unit, but they were a bunch of weirdos.

"YES! THE TIGERS WON!" An overjoyed man sprung up from his desk and held his phone high up in the air victoriously, grinning brightly at the victory of his favorite baseball team.

His name was Yutaka Tennoji, a spiky red-haired man who always dressed casually in a white T-Shirt and a grungy leather jacket and jeans. Tennoji was six feet tall, and the tallest detective out of the bunch. He was one of Second Unit's best detectives, and the one with the highest arrest-rate, despite only being twenty six years old.

Lieutenant Hiroshi Kirisawa, the big boss of Second Unit, smiled wryly at Tennoji's sudden outburst that was really unlike him. "You and your baseball obsession..."

"Oi, it's _not_ an obsession!" Tennoji went back to his usual, bitter bad attitude he always had as he reprimanded his boss.

Kirisawa was the leader of MPD Special Investigation's Second Unit, despite only being twenty nine. He had short black hair combed back out of his face that sprung about widely, drawing attention to his kind smile. He was always smoking a cigarette, and he wore a simple white button-up, a black blazer, and black work pants. Kirisawa was a good-hearted guy, but Tennoji had him beat height-wise by a mere inch.

"Are you really surprised?"

That snarky laugh came from twenty-two-year-old Eiki Yachigusa, the youngest out of the bunch who was actually a Japanese-American NYPD officer working in Japan. He had crazy wild brown hair and always had a smile on his face. He was always dressed the most casual, only wearing a white T-Shirt, a black denim vest, light washed jeans, and a dog tag around his neck. He was the more laid back detective in Second Unit, always cracking jokes and making people laugh.

A man with short, tame black hair dressed in a grey suit looked up from his laptop, momentarily taking a break from hacking away at some complex algorithm. He pushed the thin-framed glasses he wore up the bridge of his nose, and he was completely straight-faced as he observed his colleagues joke around with each other.

Yachigusa walked over to said man, peering over his desk and staring at what was on his laptop screen. "Whatcha working on, Kyobashi?"

Katsuyuki Kyobashi, the twenty-five-year-old resident hacker working as one of Second Unit's detectives, quickly shut his laptop and plastered a fake smile on his face. "Nothing you need to concern yourself with."

The door to the room opened, and the man who had a rather... _interesting_ encounter with a klutzy woman out front of the station walked in. He sighed as he plopped down in his desk, brushing the loose strands of brown hair from his eyes. Kazusa Hanai: easily Second Unit's most arrogant, conceited, know-it-all on the force. He was an amazing detective and criminal profiler, and he often rivaled with Tennoji's detective skills. He was a very blunt and direct person, and he appeared to have no flaws at all. The man was literally perfect.

"Hey, Hanai." Kirisawa greeted the master detective with a warm smile. "Good morning."

"Good morning." Hanai flashed his boss a warm grin before he turned his head to look at the sleeping blue-haired sniper next to him. "Asano's really out this morning, huh?"

Everyone directed their attention to Shusuke Asano, Metro PD's best sniper. He was always the quiet type, and whenever he wasn't being socially awkward and mysterious, he was spaced out or asleep. The twenty-four-year-old was always calm and quiet, but direct. And half asleep most of the time.

"Alright, everyone. Listen up." Kirisawa stood tall as he demanded the room's full attention. "The new kid's coming today, so be nice when they get here any minute now."

The rumored 'new kid' was five minutes late already, so Kirisawa figured he'd give the kid at least a fighting chance by talking to his men first.

"Are they any good?" Tennoji rose an eyebrow curiously, only half paying attention to this debrief.

"Says so right here." Kirisawa squinted his eyes at a paper he was holding in his hand, and he took a puff of smoke from his cigarette. "Kid's resume is pretty impressive, despite the lack of field work they've done. Studied martial arts for ten years, is a pretty decent shot, great at being able to tell when someone is lying... Kid should have no problem fitting in here."

Right as Kirisawa finished reading off the newbie's resume and impressing his men with the kid's skill, the sound of the doorknob being fiddled with directed everyone's attention to it. Suddenly, the door swung open, and a very frazzled looking young woman stepped in the room looking very out of breath with joyful, yet distressed tears streaming down her face.

"Please tell me this is Special Investigation's Second Unit!" The young woman none other than Halle Mitchell exasperatedly pulled at her hair with her trench coat hanging over her arm, exhausted beyond belief. "I've already gotten lost like four times on my way here...!"

All six men stared at this blubbering emotional mess of a woman, completely stunned by her "grand" entrance.

"The good shot!?" Yachigusa dropped his jaw and let it clatter to the floor as he stood stunned by this gorgeous woman who was just all over the place.

"The human lie detector?" Kyobashi simply rose an eyebrow at this frazzled woman, a little surprised himself.

"The kid who studied martial arts for a decade!?" Tennoji's eyes got so wide with surprise that he nearly fell over.

"The new recruit is a woman?" Asano had woken up to the chaos, and he stared at the girl curiously, who was now the only woman to _ever_ work in Second Unit.

Halle's eyes darted from one man to another, not really understanding what was going on. So she _did_ have the right room this time...?

She was about to speak up and say something when she met the eyes of the man she had just met outside the station, and she pointed an accusing finger at him. "You!?"

"What?" Hanai blinked his eyes repeatedly at Halle. "Ms. Suspicious from before?"

"Ms. _Suspicious!?"_ Halle fumed at the ridiculous nickname, and she clenched her fists tightly as her face grew red.

Kirisawa seemed to be the only one in the room not shocked at all, since he had read her resume, and he just laughed out loud at the new kid and Hanai. "Well look at that, you guys are buddies already!"

Halle bitterly grimaced as she felt sick to her stomach from Kirisawa's horribly false accusation. "Not really..."

"Well, guys! This is the new kid!" Kirisawa clapped his hands together with a big smile on his face. "Give a warm welcome to miss...er, what was your name again, new kid?"

Halle blinked her eyes owlishly at her new boss, and she gasped sharply when she realized he had asked her a question. "Oh! I'm Halle Mitchell from the West Arai Community Safety Unit." She grinned brightly at the six men before her, waving to them adorably. "Hi, guys! Nice to meet you!" She awkwardly scratched the back of her head as a sheepish smile found its way to her lips. "It's my first day at the MPD, so I'm a little nervous..."

 _"You're_ nervous?" Tennoji's jaw only dropped even further at the sound of that.

Hanai smirked at her curiously with a hint of arrogance gleaming in his soft eyes. "You sure don't look nervous."

"Maybe she's trying to win us over with a shy little girl act?" Kyobashi let a flirty grin tug at the corner of his mouth as he looked Halle up and down.

"You think she's being fake?" Yachigusa stared slack-jawed at Kyobashi, a little stunned by the accusation himself.

Suddenly self conscious from Kyobashi's flirty gaze, Halle hugged her trench coat close to her chest as her cheeks flushed red in embarrassment. "I'm not trying to do anything like that!"

Asano seemed to be the only guy in the room who couldn't honestly care any less than he already did. "Meh, whatever..."

"Shut it, guys!" Kirisawa's booming voice commanded all attention in an instant. "Stop talking all at once!" He crossed his arms bitterly over his chest as he reprimanded his men seriously. "Now, hurry and introduce yourselves."

"I'm Kazusa Hanai." Hanai beat the others to the punch, and he stepped closer to Halle as he smirked down at the shorter woman. "So, you weren't a sketchy loiterer or a tourist, you're a detective!"

Halle shrunk back into her skin at his intimidating presence. "Yes... I'm a detective..." She found herself lowering her voice unconsciously, and she nearly squeaked out the words. Hanai was a cute guy, but something about him just rubbed Halle the wrong way.

Tennoji grinned menacingly at the new girl, placing a hand on his hip. "My name is Yutaka Tennoji. I hate the Giants and girls with no manners."

Halle stared at the red-haired man in awe as he flashed her a wry smile. "No manners!?"

What a jerk!

Yachigusa seemed unfazed by the jerky behavior that came from both Tennoji and Hanai, and he took it upon himself to introduce himself next. "I'm Eiki Yachigusa. I'm actually from the NYPD, but I'm here in Tokyo for training!"

Halle felt herself relax into a soft smile. Finally, a normal guy amongst the weirdos!

She shook his hand and smiled brightly at him. "It's nice to meet you." Her eyes suddenly widened in shock as he caught her off guard with a kiss to the hand. "W-wha!?"

"Just a little New York-style greeting for you!" Yachigusa laughed a little as he beamed his cute grin to her.

Kyobashi looked the woman up and down, then stared down at his computer, disinterested. "Four."

"Four?" Halle stared at him oddly, trying to figure out what that meant. Wait...four points!? Did he just rate her a _four!?_

...was that a four out of five, or a four out of ten? Or one _hundred!?_

Halle gawked at him as Kirisawa was quick to scold him. "Hey, hey. Kyobashi, actually introduce yourself to her."

"Alright." Kyobashi heaved a sigh as he stood up, and he looked over to Halle, the 'four.' "I'm Katsuyuki Kyobashi, but you've probably heard my name around before." He peered down at the frail woman with his dark eyes, judging her as he adjusted his glasses. "You don't seem _that_ clueless."

All she could do really was stare at him in shock and raise a single finger in defense. "Um, well..."

That wasn't exactly _polite_...

"Let's see, and lastly there's..." Kyobashi looked around the room at the other guys until his gaze landed on the blue-haired man in the white shirt. "...Asano!" He moved back to his seat, calling over Asano as he did so.

"I'm Shusuke Asano." The tall man with dark blue hair gave Halle a slight head nod, introducing himself.

...

Was that it?

A nervous bead of sweat rolled down Halle's forehead as she realized that was really all he had to say to her.

Kirisawa chuckled amusedly at this little exchange. "Don't worry about him, he's always like that." He walked over to Halle and held out a hand for her to shake. "Anyways, I'm Hiroshi Kirisawa."

Hanai suddenly appeared right behind Halle, and she jumped a little at his voice. "Kirisawa's the head of Second Unit."

"He's our boss." Tennoji leaned back casually onto his desk, crossing his arms over his strong chest.

Halle elicited a cute grin as she outstretched her arms to everyone. "I look forward to working with all of you!"

Hanai and Tennoji stood side-by-side as they grew very quite, just staring at Halle with serious looks on their faces. Even Yachigusa and Kyobashi were quiet as they silently stared at her. Halle wasn't all that fazed by Asano's disinterest in her, though.

Halle's outstretched arms fell down to her sides as she frowned a little, feeling as if she just got rejected for a hug. "What...?"

Hanai tilted his head to the side, and he replaced that serious look with a devilish smirk on his face. "You're a very..."

"A very what?" Halle stared at him quizzically, wondering what he was about to say.

Hanai studied her harshly as he stared at her with that intense gaze of his. "...awkward person."

Halle's expression shattered at that stab to her delicate heart, and her whole face flared up a deep shade of red in embarrassment. "I'm so sorry! I'm really bad at first impressions!"

The guys all just sweatdropped at they watched the over-dramatic woman abruptly _slam her head_ on a nearby wall, sulking in a corner as she talked to herself.

"I'm trying to work on it, honestly!" She sulked even more as a dark purple cloud of depression seemed to float around her. "God, I'm such an idiot!"

Kirisawa chuckled at Halle's little outburst, and he shook his head at his men. "Come on, guys! Give her a better reaction than that!"

"Boss, are you _sure_ this girl's a detective?" Hanai suspiciously looked Halle up and down, who was still sulking in her little corner, not really sure what to believe at this point.

Tennoji seemed to be on the same page as Hanai. "Why was she transferred here?"

"Hmm. I dunno." Kirisawa mused out loud, staring at the woman who had just now recovered from her embarrassment and was standing before him once again.

Hanai stood right next to her as he studied her face, and Halle leaned backwards in attempt to keep a reasonable distance between their faces. "She doesn't seem like a detective, does she?"

"Especially one that knows martial arts." Tennoji rose an eyebrow at her curiously, ganging up on the young woman on her other side. "Hey, Mitchell, you know you can't lie on your resume, right?"

Halle gawked at Tennoji, and she quickly grew defensive. "I-I didn't lie about my skills! I really am a good shot, I have a pretty good sense of being able to tell when someone is lying, and I _do_ know martial arts!"

Tennoji scoffed a little, not believing her for a second. "Do you have some special skill or something? Like, are you an explosives expert or something?"

"Yeah, what's your thing?" Kirisawa's eyes grew wide as he studied Halle, wondering that as well.

Halle narrowed her eyes at Tennoji as they got all up in each other's faces. "I told you, I'm good at martial arts!"

Tennoji studied her curiously, and a taunting smirk quickly grew on his face. "So, if I came at you like this... You'd be able to stop me?"

"H-hey! Cut it out!" Halle squeaked as Tennoji backed her up into a corner, leering over her menacingly.

Hanai widened his eyes a little, surprised by the idiot's unusually aggressive behavior. "Hey, Tennoji, leave her alone."

Tennoji scoffed a little in defiance. "Relax. I just want to see if she's lying." He grabbed onto Halle's arm, and that was a _big_ mistake.

The world seemed to slow down as Halle's eyes quickly darted to look at Tennoji's rough hand gripping her arm, and she redirected her intense glare back to Tennoji's dark eyes. Tennoji's deep red eyes flashed with worry for a split second at the sight of her terrifying glare, and she moved so quick that he was too stunned and too slow to really stop her. It all happened within just two seconds.

Halle gripped his arm tightly and swung it back in a circle, bending it awkwardly. This is the move she used to dislocate one's shoulder, but she made sure not to seriously harm Tennoji as she jerked from his grip. She kicked her knee up and slammed it hard into Tennoji's gut, making the six foot tall man gasp as he lost his breath and stumble backwards. Lastly, Halle delivered one strong blow to his back by coming down on him with her elbow, slamming Tennoji down to the floor.

The guys all looked shocked beyond words as Halle bent down to Tennoji's level on the floor, shooting him a penetrating stare. "Listen up, _cupcake_." She sneered at the arrogant red-head. "Don't get all high and mighty on me, thinking you're better than me just because I'm a woman and half your size." She tilted her chin upwards as she glared down at him scornfully. "I get it, I'm a woman. But that doesn't mean you have the right to get up in my face like that and assume I'm just some useless nobody who only gets in the way." She rose to her feet and threw her trench coat over a nearby chair, leaning back onto an empty desk and crossing her arms over her white blouse. "You don't know me very well, but I'm a very honest person. I never say anything I don't mean, and I don't lie to people, so I suggest you grow up and learn some manners."

Yachigusa broke the awkward, tense silence with a fit of hysterical laughter, which Tennoji immediately glared at. Everyone in the room mentally agreed Halle earned some well deserved respect for that little display, with the exception of Tennoji, and even Hanai was a little impressed by the new rookie.

But the silence didn't last long, because the loud sound of a voice coming over the PA system seemed to disrupt the chaos.

 _"Emergency dispatch! Emergency dispatch! We've received information regarding a bomb threat at Ohi Warf. All personnel, move out!"_

The relaxed atmosphere of just moments earlier was gone, and everyone immediately readied to move out.

"Let's go!" Kirisawa's strong voice barked the order to the six detectives working under him, and he ran out the door.

"Yes, sir!"

Halle fumbled to grab her trench coat and quickly throw it on, and she was already starting to fall behind. Hanai was about to dash out the door when he saw this, and he immediately sighed at the woman.

"Mitchell, let's go!" He ran over and grabbed her arm, pulling her along with him.

"S-sorry!" Halle quickly apologized, allowing Hanai to drag her with him. "I'm coming!"

* * *

 **Oooh :0 a humorous chapter that introduces the characters AND ends on a tense moment? Duhn duhn duhnnnnn...**

 **Okay, so, all characters are introduced! Well, at least most of them are; I've still got a couple OCs up my sleeve, as well as a few supporting characters and antagonists coming up.**

 **So I know it's hard to follow all of the characters and distinguish who's who with all the difficult names, so I tried my best to remind you guys who was who with little descriptions here and there. I hope this wasn't too hard to read...**

 **Read, review, and enjoy my story! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Hanai was an excellent detective. He was smart, sophisticated, collected, and he was good at his job. He was a handsome young man, he had perfect grades in school, graduated from a top-notch college, was the second best case-closer in Special Investigations, was considered one of the best criminal profilers out there, and he was good at just about everything.

But he was _not_ good at humoring the new rookie who kept falling behind every five seconds.

Hanai sighed sharply as Halle took yet _another_ wrong turn as they navigated themselves through Ohi Warf, and he reached out and abruptly grabbed the back of her shirt collar to turn her back around. "Wrong way, Mitchell."

"Oops! Sorry!" Halle scrambled to catch up to Hanai, trying to make sure she didn't lose him again.

Hanai shut his eyes as he exhaled sharply. He couldn't help but shake his head at her. "Geez, Mitchell... What are you doing? Walking around with your eyes closed?"

Halle stuck out her bottom lip to pout as she stared at Hanai's back. "I said I was sorry!" She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, falling towards the back of the group as she continued to walk behind Hanai. "Hanai, what do we know about the bomb threat?"

Hanai glanced back at the woman following close behind him, and he had an emotionless expression on his face. "We received a tip-off from someone living in the area. Apparently, he went to investigate an illegally parked car and overheard someone discussing plans for a bombing."

Hanai was just glad that she was asking an actual _intelligent_ question, rather than trying to start up some sort of conversation again like she did in the car earlier. He had driven in his unmarked police car to Ohi Warf with Halle, and the entire car ride there she kept chatting with him about just about anything. She's wasn't necessarily _annoying_ , but...her personality was just something Hanai was not used to yet. If anything, he thought she was just a weirdo, rather than a detective.

"Is that information even reliable?" Halle blinked her eyes twice as she quickened her pace, already falling behind Hanai again. She was tempted to clutch onto the back of his jacket to help her keep up, but she decided against it, figuring that would just be too awkward.

Hanai slightly turned his head back to look at her. "We have to act on the assumption that it is."

Halle's shoulders slumped as she realized that was probably a dumb thing to ask. "True..."

Whether it was West Arai or the MPD, they would be shooting themselves in the foot as police if they didn't work hard to maintain a trusting relationship with the community they protect.

Ohi Warf was an old factory and storage unit facility by the docks that appeared to be completely deserted at the moment, even though it was the middle of the day. Every storage unit door was closed, and the whole thing was a grey color scheme. This place gave Halle a chill just _looking_ at it. So creepy...

"Everyone, split up and get ready to head in." Kirisawa lead the group, and he began to cautiously survey the area.

"Yes, sir."

"Mitchell, stay here." Kirisawa reached out to stop Halle by grabbing her shoulder, and he had an unusually serious look on his face at the moment. "Wait for reinforcements and relay my orders to them."

Halle opened her mouth to protest, but she just ended up sighing and complying with her boss's orders. "Yes, sir..."

Kyobashi handed Halle a small radio, and she took it before staring at it curiously. "Here, this two-way radio will connect you with Boss."

"Okay." She held onto the radio tightly, trying not to look _too_ disappointed that everyone seemed to be on the same page and thought she would only get in their way.

"Alright. Everybody, keep your eyes peeled." Kirisawa waved the five detectives over. "Let's head in."

"Yes, sir!"

At Kirisawa's orders, everybody headed off in different directions. Halle watched them all go, and her eyes lingered on Hanai until he finally disappeared from her sight. Halle couldn't help but think that everyone was totally different compared to when they were messing around before. They really were pros, and she was just...an amateur. She'd have to work really hard if she was going to be a part of this unit!

"Ugh... This sucks." Halle slumped her shoulders and relaxed her posture, looking completely and utterly depressed.

Why did _she_ have to be the one to have to wait by the car?

Suddenly, Halle's sulking was interrupted by a large crashing noise that came from behind her. She immediately whirled around with the radio in hand to look at what made that sound, but all she saw was a tipped over trash can.

"Phew..." Halle sighed as she pressed her hand to her chest in attempt to calm her fast beating heart. "For a second there, I thought...MMMF!"

Someone came up from behind her and held a small cloth over her face. Halle's eyes widened in horror as she realized what it was, but it was too late.

She had already inhaled the chloroform, and her vision immediately went black.

A shadowy figure dressed in all black held onto the unconscious woman tightly as they began to bind her hands, and the radio she had been holding slipped from her grip and clattered helplessly to the floor.

* * *

Darkness. That was all she saw the moment she opened her eyes.

Halle groaned as her eyes slowly fluttered open. It only took her a few seconds to realize that she was tied to a chair in some dark room; probably one of the storage units in the abandoned Ohi Warf factory somewhere. Her hands and feet were tightly bound with rope, and no matter how hard she struggled, she couldn't free herself.

The sound of footsteps approaching her immediately motivated Halle to look up from the floor, and she made eye contact with her attacker.

This person just _had_ to be the suspect Second Unit was looking for. They were dressed in black pants and a black hoodie, and they were wearing a surgical mask and black sunglasses to conceal their face. Halle couldn't even see any of their hair tucked underneath that hood; there was no way she'd be able to make out any distinguishing features based on how hard this person worked to conceal their identity. Halle wasn't even sure if this person was a man or a woman.

Halle gritted her teeth as she felt the ropes burning her wrists from all the struggling she did. "You're only making it worse for yourself by doing this!" She summoned up all of her courage and yelled at the suspect, trying to fight back in some way. "Reinforcements are on their way as we speak. There's nowhere for you to run!"

She had to hurry and contact Kirisawa, but the radio was gone...! Damn...

The suspect remained silent as they took out a small box, and they paid Halle no mind as she began to grow even more nervous.

"W-what are you...?" Halle's eyes nervously darted between the suspect's face and the box they were holding, unsure what was going on.

The suspect pressed the button on the little box, and it started making a beeping noise. Was it counting down!?

"No way..." Halle's eyes widened in absolute horror as she watched all of this. "Is that a time bomb!?"

The suspect's dark glasses glinted as they caught the light, and they removed a floorboard to make a smooth escape from the room Halle was trapped in. They were gone in just a second, and they disappeared into the floor once they moved the floorboard back over the hole.

All Halle could really do was gawk at the floor. "A secret passageway!?"

This was bad! If she didn't get in touch with Kirisawa...

The box kept on beeping. That thing was really going to blow...

Just then, the beeping stopped. Halle opened up her mouth one last time as a bright flash erupted from the box, as well as a huge explosion. She screamed her last call for help as the bomb went off right in front of her.

"HANAI!"

* * *

 ***is banging head on desk repeatedly* OH MY GOD XDDDDD it took me three whole chapters just to write the game's prologue.**

 ***continues banging head on desk***

 **Aghhhhh. Why do I always do this? I always make my books so damn long... (Because you hate writing short books, obviously!) Shut up, brain...**

 **Anyways, thanks for reading this story, guys, and actually leaving me reviews! I'm so happy! :D**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


	4. Chapter 4

_"Halle! Wake up!"_

...Hanai?

Halle tried to open her eyes at the sound of someone calling her, but her body just wouldn't respond. She groaned slightly as her consciousness slowly began to return to her.

...

What happened?

Halle's head was pounding as she opened her heavy eyelids. They fluttered open delicately to see that all of the guys from Second Unit were crowded around her, and she was lying down on something inside that dark storage unit from before.

"What's going on? Ow..." Halle tried to sit up, but her stomach lurched from the intense pain spread throughout her body. She didn't even realize she was covered in cuts and burns.

The whole room was filled with the smell of gunpowder, but Halle just couldn't remember what happened. What in the world...? She must have been in shock, because her memory was drawing blanks.

...why did it feel like she was being held in someone's arms?

Halle's eyes darted upwards in a brief moment of panic, and she was surprised to see who it was. "Hanai?" Her quiet, weak voice squeaked his name in recognition as she looked up into his deep, brown eyes.

Any trace of pride and arrogance was gone as Hanai looked down at her, genuinely concerned. "Mitchell, are you okay?" He had a very worried expression on his face as Halle looked up at him.

Hanai's warm arms and relieved expression made her feel at ease. Well, at least until her splitting headache returned. Damn, did that hurt! It hurt so much that she felt her consciousness begin to fade once more as a result.

"Hanai..." Halle reached up and grabbed his jacket with her last ounce of strength, desperately needing to relay one last message to him.

"Yeah, Mitchell?" He looked down at her eyes worriedly, noticing her begin to pass out again.

"...I found the bomb." She grinned awkwardly, trying to be humorous even while fainting.

Hanai stared at her unbelievably for a second before he suddenly looked relieved at her dumb joke, and he chuckled at her. He smiled down at the crazy woman and held onto her tighter, and he tried to say something, but Halle was too far gone to make out what it was that he said to her.

That cute laugh of his was the last thing she heard before she blacked out once again.

* * *

It had been a week since Halle had been admitted to the hospital, and today was the day she got discharged and was cleared to go back to work. Although, she wasn't feeling very happy about returning to Second Unit, because she figured once she got back, she would just get transferred again somewhere else. And even if she didn't, would the guys even _want_ to work with her anymore? She felt too ashamed to even show her face at the office again...

She let some _scumbag_ get the drop on her, and then she literally got herself blown up on her first day.

Yeah... She wasn't really feeling too confident.

She worked so hard, too! She made sure to make a point that she was a strong, confident, independent woman who wouldn't just 'get in the way' to the guys, and what did she do? She got her ass kicked _miserably_ on her first day and skipped out on work for a whole week just to recover.

Aside from her older brother Brad, her friend Sam, and Ellie, of course, no one had come to check up on her in the hospital. She didn't even _dare_ to tell her parents, because all that would do is cause her mother to quite literally _freak the fuck out_ , and she wasn't in the mood for yet another lecture about how she should never have joined the force in the first place because it's dangerous and no place for a 'lady.' Second Unit didn't stop by either, so Halle figured the guys were just busy cracking the bombing case, if they hadn't solved it already...

With a heavy sigh, Halle changed out of the hospital nightgown she had been provided and quickly got dressed into her usual work clothes. It was seven in the morning, and she was determined to get to MPD this morning by eight. Her wounds were healed for the most part, but she was still a little sore. It's not like that was going to stop her, though.

"Ugh, I'm so embarrassed..." Halle's cheeks flushed red as she slapped the sides of her face, trying to snap out of it. "Maybe I should stop by the bakery on my way to work and grab something for the guys...?"

Yeah, that was a good idea. She could bring in a box of pastries for the guys at Second Unit as a peace offering, and an apology for being such a nuisance...

* * *

Just as she had planned to do earlier, Halle stopped by the bakery and bought a box of sweets for the guys on her way to work. She passed by one of the First Unit detectives as she navigated her way through the seventh floor of the MPD building, and she recoiled a little from the terrifying glare the man had on his face. Everyone looked so serious, walking so quickly and purposefully down the hallways... Halle couldn't help but get the impression that everyone here _really_ meant business.

She really didn't belong here, but at the very least, she would say a proper good-bye before she got transferred again!

Suddenly finding a new resolve, Halle gripped the box of sweets a little tighter and she walked with a spring in her step towards Second Unit's office. Unlike her first time here, she found the door to the office fairly quickly, and she gripped the doorknob tightly. She hesitated briefly before hiding her reluctance and shoving the door open with great force.

"Hi, guys!" Halle marched right into the room with a bright grin on her face, shocking everyone thoroughly.

"Mitchell!" Hanai nearly jumped back from surprise, not expecting to see her today. He immediately ran over to her, looking her over worriedly. "Are you okay already?"

"Yep, I'm fine." She gave him a cheeky thumbs up before she suddenly looked down at the floor in shame. "I'm sorry for worrying you..."

Hanai seemed to be smiling softly as a result of hearing she was okay, and he was back to his usual smirking self fairly quickly. "That's good..." He tore his eyes from her and turned back around to the rest of the guys, raising his voice so everyone in the back of the room could hear. "Hey, guys! Mitchell's back!"

Kirisawa looked over to see what all the commotion was about, taking a puff of his cigarette. "So, they finally let you out?"

Halle smiled awkwardly to the kind-hearted boss she was just starting to get used to around here. "Yeah, I was released this morning."

"I heard you hit your head pretty hard." Tennoji looked up from what he was doing, staring over at Halle.

"Urk..." Halle's whole face seemed to be frozen in shock from her shame and embarrassment, and it was as if her eyes were completely white. "Well... The tests they gave me all turned out fine, so I _should_ be okay..."

"Well that's good." Asano nodded his head, having been genuinely concerned for the rookie's health.

"It's all because you guys got me to the hospital so quickly..." She awkwardly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, smiling up at all of the guys. "Thank you for saving my life."

Kyobashi looked up from his computer and stared right through Halle as if she were a pane of glass. "Are you sure you're okay to come back to work today?"

She was a little caught off guard by the sudden question, but she quickly nodded her head vigorously. "O-oh, yes. I should be fine."

Yachigusa grinned brightly when he heard _that_. "Okay, well, make sure you take care of yourself, Halle!"

Suddenly, her face fell as she remembered her current work status. "Um, Boss, actually..." She turned to face Kirisawa, feeling a little dejected. "About coming back to work..."

Kirisawa widened his eyes a little, curious as to what she had to say. "What is it?"

Halle's eyes dropped to the floor as she frowned, avoiding all eye contact. "Are you sure I even _belong_ in Second Unit?"

Kirisawa was so shocked that his eyes snapped wide open. "Huh?"

"I mean, I let a suspect get away on my first day..." She nervously ran a hand through her hair as her eyes looked around the room. "I don't think Second Unit really needs someone like that around."

Kirisawa seemed to understand her feelings, but he was so shocked he didn't really know what to say. "That's..."

"Don't be stupid!" Hanai immediately butted in, cutting Kirisawa off mid-sentence. He had a severe look on his face as he put himself in front of Halle. "You're essential to us as an eye witness!"

Halle jumped back a little to distance herself from Hanai, and she leaned back and looked up at his face. "E-eyewitness?"

Hanai's lips pressed together firmly as he stared down at the woman. "We're relying on your memories to solve this case."

Halle's eyebrows shot up into her hairline. "What do you mean!?"

"Simple." Hanai peered down at the woman in determination with his eyebrows knitted together. "You're the only one who made contact with the suspect. We don't have any other leads at this point."

"So, you mean..." Halle held up her pointer finger in defense as she began to figure it out.

Hanai nodded his head with a bitter frown plastered on his face. "Yeah. Without your memories, we won't be able to solve this case."

Halle's eyes widened in shock as she screamed inside her mind _, "Oh my god, that's way too much pressure!"_

Hanai smirked at the look on her face, and he leaned closer to her in order to get a better look at her expression. "You're thinking _, 'that's way too much pressure,'_ right?"

Halle nearly broke her jaw off from how shocked she was. "Whoa." How the heck did he do _that!?_

"You let everything show on your face." Hanai let out a little scoff. "Be careful. I can read your mind."

The rookie detective made an audible gulp as she leaned backwards and away from Hanai. "...dually noted."

He was no joke, alright... Hanai's observational skills were kind of amazing, Halle was now beginning to notice.

"Alright." Hanai reached out and messed up Halle's hair mischievously. "On to the exciting world of investigation basics!" He looked down at her with a normal smile on his face. "You've got to get the procedures down first. They should be second nature."

Suddenly finding a new resolve within herself, Halle's face broke out into a huge grin as she punched the air. "Oh-kay!"

Hanai's eyes narrowed slightly as his whole demeanor switched from kind and friendly to stiff and serious. "Steal investigative techniques from everyone here. Suck it all up!"

Halle nodded her head quickly. "Okay!"

...what was he talking about, 'suck it all up?' Did he mean just absorb as much information and helpful tips as possible?

Hanai noticed Halle was starting to drift off into her own thoughts again, and he let out a bitter sigh. Was this woman even a decent detective? She was always spacing out like that. Hanai motioned to snap her out of it, and instead of being nice about it, he just jabbed her forehead with his finger.

"Ouch!" Halle's hands flew up to her forehead, and she pouted at the detective in front of her. "What was _that_ for!?"

"If you want to stay one step ahead of the competition, you've got to use your head." Hanai pointed to the young woman's forehead, which she was currently clutching.

"Fine!" Halle's eyebrows knitted together in annoyance, and she threw her hands down to her sides.

Alright! It was time for her to get enthusiastic and do her best! She'd prove her worth to these guys and get them to believe she really _did_ belong here in Second Unit if it was the last thing she would ever do!

"Haha, that's the spirit." Kirisawa rested his head in his hand at his desk, looking over at the energetic woman who was practically bouncing out of her skin. "So, Mitchell seems okay?"

Hanai stared at the determined young woman with a curious smile on his face. "...yeah."

Halle noticed Hanai was looking at her strangely, and she tilted her head to the side in confusion. "What? What is it?"

Yachigusa cracked up laughing, and he shook his head at the rookie. "You're being tested, Halle!"

"What!?" Halle's eyes snapped wide open, and they darted back and forth between Yachigusa and Hanai. "Tested how!?"

Hanai turned his head to Yachigusa with a playful smile on his face. "Come on, Eiki, keep it to yourself."

"Okay..." Yachigusa held his hands up in defense and took a step back, going back to minding his own business with a silly smile on his face.

Halle furrowed her eyebrows together in confusion. She was being tested? What exactly did _that_ mean? She knew Hanai was strict, but this _was_ the MPD, and they had high standards...

She had to give it her all, no matter what!

"Psst." Yachigusa shot Halle a sideways glance, and a huge grin found its way up to his face. "Hey, hey, hey...what's that?" His eyes were locked into the box of sweet she was holding in her hands.

"Oh!" Halle suddenly held out the box to the guys, just now remembering she brought it in the first place. "I brought some sweets for you guys as an apology for all of the trouble I caused."

Kyobashi looked amused as both he and Yachigusa were the first to dig into the box. "You're more polite than you look."

Halle just sweatdropped at what a rude thing to say that was. "Thanks...I think?"

Tennoji pushed his way to the front as he comically placed his hand over his chest. "I, for one, accept this delicious apology." He promptly shoved a doughnut into his mouth without even giving it a second thought.

Yachigusa clapped his hands together as he suddenly just had a thought. "I'll go make some tea!"

Kirisawa shook his head with a smile as he watched the ecstatic Yachigusa take off. "Alright. Well, this is as good a chance as any, so let's get your description of the suspect as we eat."

"Okay." Halle nodded her head, anxious to get started.

Yachigusa passed out sweets and cups of tea for everyone as they sat down around the table, and Kirisawa stood in front of the white board.

"Mitchell!" Kirisawa snapped his fingers as he pointed to the new rookie. "Describe any distinguishing features the suspect had!"

Halle nearly jumped from the shock of being suddenly called on, and she quickly set down her cup of tea. "W-well..." She took in one deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to picture herself at the crime scene. "They were dressed in black pants and a black hoodie, and they were wearing a surgical mask and black sunglasses to conceal their face. I couldn't even see any of their hair tucked underneath their hood. I'm not even sure if this person was a man or a woman." Her eyes flickered to the floor in sadness. "I'm sorry, but...that's really all I remember..."

"Well, _this_ is a dead end..." Tennoji let his head fall heavy into his hand, scowling a little in disappointment. "What do we do from here?"

"Start over from the beginning." Hanai looked up from his notepad to catch a glimpse of the dejected red-head, looking as calm and serious as he always did. "That's really all we can do."

Halle couldn't help but notice that everyone looked so serious. They sipped their tea, ate their sweets, and wore scowls on their faces all the while. The tension in this room was just _killing_ her.

Not really knowing what else to do, Halle reached for one of the cupcakes she bought and brought it to her lips. She was about to take a bite of it when she caught a whiff of the cupcake's smell, and a memory suddenly had awoken inside of her.

"Oh! That's it!" Halle nearly dropped her cupcake from her sudden epiphany.

"Hm?" Asano, who was sitting across from her, suddenly froze.

"A sweet smell..." The thought breathlessly escaped her lips, and Halle looked off at nothing in particular. "The suspect had a distinct sweet scent."

Kirisawa smiled curiously at this little tidbit of information. "A sweet smell?"

"Perfume?" Yachigusa jumped the gun and took his best guess, looking at Halle.

"No..." Halle shook her head as she bit down on her lip. "It wasn't a man made smell like that."

Kyobashi rose an eyebrow to the rookie detective. "Essential oils, like all you girls are in to?"

The brunette shook her head fiercely, writing off that suggestion. "Not quite. It was somehow milder, more nostalgic..."

"A kind of shampoo or soap?" Tennoji shrugged his shoulders, drawing blanks.

Halle pinched the sides of her mouth and rested her chin in her hand, shaking her head once more. "It was a little different from that, too..."

"Ugh, this is really hard..." Tennoji grumbled out loud, protesting to this useless speculation.

Halle pouted a little. "Sorry for being so vague..."

Hanai seemed to be thinking something over as he stared at the rookie detective sitting next to him. "So what you're saying is that it's a smell that we would all be familiar with."

"Yes!" Halle nodded her head in agreement with a puzzled look on her face. "It's so familiar and nostalgic that it's weird I can't place it..."

Kirisawa wrote a summary of everything Halle had just said on the white board, and then he turned to face everyone. "We don't know whether the masked suspect is male or female, but he or she smells distinctly sweet." He clapped his hands together in conclusion. "This scent differs from that of soap or shampoo. Hanai, what do you think?" He looked over at the criminal profiler, hoping for some insight from the master detective.

Hanai smirked a little as he drew a conclusion. "We can assume that the suspect has either forgotten or does not realize that he smells."

Halle blinked repeatedly and tilted her head to the side, staring at Hanai curiously. "How could he be oblivious to something like _that?"_

"To the suspect, that smell is likely a part of his every day life to the point where he no longer recognizes it as a scent." Hanai explained to the one girl in the room who just didn't seem to get it, smirking all the while.

"That was awesome!" Yachigusa gave Hanai a goofy thumbs-up. "You really are the MPD's best profiler!"

Halle looked over at Hanai with utmost curiosity. So his specialty was profiling? That's kind of cool...

Hanai bitterly smiled as he shut his eyes tightly. "Eiki, your sarcasm is not appreciated."

Yachigusa chuckled at Hanai's lack of faith in him. "I was being serious!"

Without cracking a smile, Hanai glanced at Yachigusa before looking to Kirisawa. "The suspect likely spends at least several hours a day with that smell." His face fell into a contorted frown as he pressed his index finger to his lips in thought. "If we knew any details about the scent, we would be able to begin to figure out more about the suspect."

Kirisawa nodded as he listened, taking in Hanai's thoughts on all of this in full. He then looked sharply to the new rookie, calling her attention. "Mitchell, if you remember anything else about the scent, let us know immediately."

"Of course." Halle smiled awkwardly, feeling a little bad she couldn't give them anymore information on the perp they were looking for.

And then, Kirisawa said something that shocked all of Second Unit entirely, and consequently set something in motion so significant that there was no way he could have known what would happen as a result.

"Hanai..." Kirisawa looked over to his prized detective. "You're going to be teamed up with Mitchell for the remainder of this investigation."

...

... _what?_

"Huh?" Hanai was completely slack-jawed as he stared at Kirisawa in shock. "She's going to be _my_ partner?" His face twisted in clear displeasure, appalled by the mere _thought_ of being partnered up with the good-for-nothing rookie.

"Wait, you mean me and _him?"_ Halle stared at Kirisawa unbelievably as she pointed back and forth between herself and Hanai. "Oh _hell_ no!"

"Why are you pairing me with _her?"_ Hanai rose an eyebrow as he just _looked_ at his new partner, completely at a loss for an explanation. She wasn't anything special at all, and she'd just get in the way of his investigation!

Kirisawa seemed to have something up his sleeve as he smirked to the two groaning detectives. "You're the only one capable of analyzing the clues Mitchell remembers."

Hanai remained silent for the longest time as he allowed a long pause to occupy the room. Then, when he finally opened his mouth to say something, all the detective managed to do as he let out a dejected sigh was say, "...understood." He faced Halle suddenly with a look of reluctant acceptance on his face. "We'll get started as soon as you finish eating."

Halle nodded her head as she hurried and finished her cupcake, washing it down with frantic gulps of tea. She wasn't about to keep this jerk waiting any longer.

Just how much worse could this _get!?_

* * *

 **Phew...long chapter. This was an exhausting chapter to write.**

 **So, we learn a little more about Halle in this chapter, and we get a better feel for the guys' personalities. The mystery bomber still _remains_ a mystery, and Hanai and Halle are stuck together working on it! Who wants to see these two start to get on each other's nerves? I do! Time to get back to writing...**

 **Thank you guys so much for taking the time to read this story! I'm so glad to hear that you guys already love this quirky book! Just wait until the action picks up, and we learn more about our favorite girl who just happens to be keeping more secrets about herself than it would appear...**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


	5. Chapter 5

Hanai and Halle immediately left for the area near the crime scene and started walking down the busy streets of Japan, passing by large buildings and skyscrapers as they were asking around. They were trying to gather any information they could without getting on each other's nerves too much.

Hanai looked calm and cool as he questioned a witness on the sidewalk, smiling naturally at the man. "Did you notice any new people or cars in the days leading up to the bombing?"

The older man seemed to consider it for a moment before he shook his head. "Nope, not at all. And I'd remember an unfamiliar face."

Hanai seemed a little shocked by this dead end, and he tried following up on one more lead. "Have you noticed anyone who smells particularly sweet?"

"Nope." The old man pressed a finger to his lips, thinking it over. "There aren't any fancy, perfume-wearing folks around these parts."

Hanai shook his head, holding up his hand as he spoke. "Not perfume, more of a natural smell."

"Well, in that case..." The old man looked down at the ground as he wracked his brain for some sort of memory. "The smell of the oil from the factory comes to mind."

"I see..." Hanai frowned a little, disappointed. He then turned to look at his partner sharply. "Mitchell, do you have any questions?"

Halle thought it over for a moment before shaking her head. Hanai had pretty much asked any questions that had come to mind. "Not especially."

Hanai dropped his jaw as he stared at his rookie partner unbelievably. "What?" He then narrowed his eyes into a sharp glare, knitting his eyebrows together.

Halle drew her head back from Hanai, a little intimidated by that look on his face. "What? What is it!?"

Hanai let out a sharp sigh as he looked away from her and smiled at the old man. "Thank you for your help. We may be back later with further questions."

"Of course, Officer." The old man was quick to shake Hanai's hand with a smile on his face. "I'm happy to help."

Hanai bowed his head to the old man, and Halle quickly did the same. As soon as the old man was out of ear shot, Hanai turned on his heel and glared a thousand daggers at the frustrating woman, sounding very annoyed as he started to walk ahead of her. "Mitchell, come here." He turned a corner, and Halle rushed to follow. He leaned against a wall and threw a cold look her way. "Don't you even know how to question someone for information!?"

Halle blinked at him owlishly, confused by why her partner was so angry all of a sudden. "Of course I do."

Hanai drew his lips into a thin line, resting his hands in his pockets. "Well, then why didn't you do anything back there!?"

Halle's eyes snapped wide open, and she innocently intertwined her hands behind her back. "Oh. Well, you had already asked everything, so..."

Hanai snapped at her once more, cutting her off mid-sentence. "Everyone has a different way of seeing things, and the way you and I ask questions is also necessarily different."

Halle recoiled in shame with fake anime tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry! It's just that there wasn't anything I wanted to ask other than what you had already said..."

Hanai dropped the angry look and replaced it with a smile. "Well, if it's like that, then why am I even paired with you?"

It only took Halle a second to realize that smile was just a cover-up for that slap to the face, and she dropped her jaw in shock. "H-hey!"

Hanai kept that cruel smile on his face the whole time he berated the rookie detective. "What's the point of us being teamed up?" Halle didn't have an answer for him, and Hanai quickly went back to being angry with her. "Anyway, you're getting in the way."

"Hey!" Halle threw her balled up fists down to her sides, glaring at the brunette harshly.

"I'll ask the questions. You just take notes." Hanai exhaled sharply, shaking his head a little in disappointment. He rubbed his forehead in attempt to rid himself of the headache this woman was giving him.

"Take _notes?"_ Halle laughed a little, thinking that Hanai was joking. When the serious look on his face didn't go away, she just blinked at him in shock. "...wait, you're serious?"

"Yes I'm serious!" Hanai got angry with her again, throwing her a harsh scowl. "Write down everything you see and everything you hear without leaving anything out."

Halle stared at his back in shock as he abruptly turned around and started to walk away without her. "O-oh, okay! I'll take notes!" She jogged to catch up to him while clumsily digging through her trench coat pockets looking for a pen and notepad. While preoccupied looking for the notepad she had stuffed away in her jacket _somewhere_ , the klutz didn't see the crack in the sidewalk coming, and she abruptly tripped and belly-flopped onto the concrete. "Whoa...ouch!"

Hanai paused and turned around to see his partner sprawled out on the sidewalk, and he abruptly slapped his forehead in embarrassment. "You have _got_ to be kidding me..." He turned back and started to walk away, just leaving her behind. "Hurry it up, Mitchell! I don't have time for this!"

"Sorry!"

* * *

They began making their way to the next location in Hanai's car, and Halle sat awkwardly in the passenger seat trying not to act too awkward around Hanai. Apparently, randomly tapping her fingers and obsessively checking her phone for voice mail and text messages just kept pissing off Hanai, and he had barked at her to cut it out _several_ times. The ever-serious Hanai was just _impossible_ to please.

Hanai kept his eyes on the road as he spoke to Halle. "While we're in transit, write down some notes on the man we questioned."

"Seriously?" Halle laughed a little, and her face fell and she immediately pulled out her notepad when she saw she was the only one laughing. "Okay then... Notes it is." She hurriedly reached for her pen and started writing down notes, trying not to get on Hanai's nerves again.

"A sweet smell..." Hanai murmured his thoughts out loud, trying to figure out what the mysterious smell could be.

"Yes, I feel like I've smelled it in my own apartment before..." Halle pressed her finger to her lips, narrowing her eyes in frustration. "It's really bothering me that I can't figure it out..."

"Sorry, but could you be quiet?" Hanai's sudden words stung despite his quiet tone, and Halle cringed at that harsh order. "I want to be alone with my thoughts."

Halle huffed a little and slumped her head in her hand, leaning up against the car window _. "He's treating me like I'm just some kind of nuisance..."_ She thought inside her head, staring ahead at the road in annoyance. What a jerk...

Hanai gripped the steering wheel firmly and looked out at the road. He wore a serious expression that made it clear that he was working the case in his head, and Halle thought it looked like he couldn't care less about her existence.

"Don't slack off, Mitchell." Hanai irritatingly reprimanded Halle without even looking at her, barking his orders sharply. "Your pen stopped moving."

Halle sulked and quickly got back to taking notes. "Sorry..."

She remembered the old man's words from earlier and concentrated on writing, occasionally shooting Hanai a glance here and there. Halle just did _not_ get this guy. Was he nice, or was he a jerk? She was starting to get that he was both, but mostly a jerk.

Ugh... Of all people to get stuck being partnered up with, this one was the absolute _worst_.

* * *

Later that night...

The Second Unit guys threw a welcome party for Halle at a bar near the MPD building called The Station Bar. Everyone just called the place "Station" for short, given that it was mostly a cop bar anyways. Apparently, everyone came there for post-work drinks pretty often.

Kirisawa rose his glass to the others, initiating a toast. "To Mitchell joining the unit!"

"Cheers!"

Halle grinned awkwardly at her new coworkers, running a hand through her hair. "Thanks, everybody..."

They all clinked their glasses together, and everybody resumed chatting and having a good time like they were before the toast.

"So, Halle..." Yachigusa looked over at the new rookie, being the only guy casual enough in Second Unit who called her by her first name. "How did the info gathering go?"

Halle grinned awkwardly at Yachigusa, knowing fully well that Hanai was sitting right there. What should she even _say_...?

She decided to go with being honest, since that was just who she was.

"I just took notes." Halle awkwardly sunk down into her chair, clutching her drink close to her chest. "Hanai asked the questions..."

Yachigusa smiled a little, not really that surprised. "Oh, well, good notes are important, even if you don't realize it at the time." He put his elbows up on the table and rested his head in his hands, looking over at Halle. "You could look back on your notes later and realize something new."

"Well. Look at that, Mitchell." Hanai sarcastically looked over at Halle with a cocky smirk on his face. "Eiki's your savior!"

"Huh?" Halle quirked an eyebrow at her partner, confused by what he meant.

Hanai let out a little "pfft" sound, shaking his head a little. "You were making a face like _, 'why do I have to take these dumb notes?'_ the whole time." He scoffed before he took another sip of his wine.

Halle's whole face flared up red in response to being called out like that, and she pouted from Hanai's teasing.

Kyobashi laughed a little at her reaction, and he leaned over to talk to her. "So, how's working with _this_ sweetheart so far, Mitchell?" He sarcastically looked over at Hanai, earning a glare from the said brunette.

"It's...uh..." Halle hesitated a little, knowing fully well that she couldn't just come out and say 'it sucks!'

"You're going to give yourself an aneurysm." Hanai chuckled under his breath, easily reading her thoughts from the look on her face. "Just be honest, 'it sucks.'"

"That's..." Halle rose a finger to defend herself, but she couldn't really think of anything to say.

Kyobashi scoffed a little at Halle's failure to respond, and he took a swig of his whiskey. "Well, he's especially serious when it comes to investigations."

"Shouldn't _all_ detectives be?" Hanai shot him a curious smirk, feeling a little suspicious about the comment Kyobashi just made.

"Tch." Tennoji shook his head, a little annoyed. "Man, now you're rubbing _me_ the wrong way."

"And what's wrong with that?" Hanai shot Tennoji a sadistic smirk, purposely trying to piss the red-head off.

Yachigusa tried to contain his laughter at the sight of Tennoji's annoyed face, looking over at Halle casually. "Even at the MPD, first and Second Unit are known for being hard on newbies."

"It's an honor." Hanai smiled proudly, sticking his chin up a little too arrogantly for Halle's taste.

Halle just stared ahead in annoyance, taking one big gulp of her bourbon as a vein casually bulged from her forehead. "Yeah, I don't know if I'd go _that_ far."

Asano, quiet and uncaring as usual, rose his gaze to meet the newbie's as he finally decided to pitch in and say something. "But it seems like you passed."

"Hah!" Halle just scoffed, and she shook her head. "Yeah, right."

Yachigusa laughed, grinning brightly at the silly look on her face. "You didn't miss a beat following Kazusa's rapid-fire orders this morning."

Halle pulled her glass from her lips and stared at Yachigusa with wide eyes. She hadn't even thought of that. "Oh."

So _that_ was what Yachigusa meant earlier when he said that she was being tested...

Tennoji scoffed a little before taking one big gulp of his beer. "Most people get fed up halfway through and make a face like, ' _you've gotta be kidding me.'"_

"But Mitchell was into it the whole way through." Kyobashi observed with a sadistic grin on his face, following the conversation with his dark grey eyes.

Halle found herself staring at Hanai to see what he would have to say to that, and she noticed his lips were just drawn into a thin line. For some reason, he just remained silent.

"Well, well, well..." Kyobashi chuckled darkly, looking over at Hanai curiously. "Now what's _that_ reaction about?"

Hanai's face fell, and he quickly just snapped his fingers at his partner, ignoring Kyobashi's teasing. "Mitchell, wine!"

Halle nearly fell off her bar stool from the shock of suddenly being called out like that, and she set down her glass. "What...?"

Hanai's face was quick to erupt into a scowl. "My wine glass is empty!"

"O-oh, right! Sorry!" Halle shot up from her chair apologetically, swiftly taking Hanai's glass from him and rushing over to the bartender to get a refill.

The bartender almost had this "surfer dude" look to him, and he always had a big, welcoming grin on his face that made him really approachable. His faded purple hair was a wild mess pushed back, kind of a similar style to Kirisawa's, but it was less controlled. He was dressed in a white shirt and wore some sort of pendant around his neck, and he grinned brightly at the sight of Halle approaching him.

"You're the new kid from Second Unit, right?" He leaned across the bar and pointed to her, flashing her a warm smile.

Halle's eye twitched a little in response to being called a kid, but in his defense, she _was_ only twenty four and still kind of looked like one, even if she _was_ far ahead of her age maturity-wise and had big responsibilities not many other women her age did.

"Yeah, that's me. I'm Halle Mitchell." She held out her hand for him to shake, which he did.

The bartender chuckled a little, and he rolled his eyes a little sarcastically. "Those guys in Second Unit are pretty out there, huh?"

Halle smiled a little, shyly staring down at the wooden counter. "It's not like I can really say anything. I'm kind of a little 'out there' myself."

"Sounds like you'll fit in just fine then!" The bartender let out one big hearty laugh, and he grinned brightly at Halle. "I'm sure it's tough, just staring out and all, but it must be fun working with them too."

Halle's face seemed to turn green as a sickening feeling found its way to the pit of her stomach. "I think I'm still waiting for the 'fun' part to start."

The bartender nodded in understanding, and he was enjoying the company of the new woman to join Second Unit. "Hanai's your partner, right?"

"Yeah." Halle sighed bitterly, letting her gaze fall to the empty wine glass in her hand.

News must spread fast around here or something...

The bartender had an uncharacteristically serious look on his face as he looked Halle up and down. "So _you're_ the woman who put up with Kazusa Hanai's shock and awe offensive."

Halle laughed a little as she drew her head back cautiously. "What?"

The bartender looked amazed that she hadn't heard. "You're famous."

"Seriously...?" Halle clicked her tongue derisively, and she shook her head a little. "That's ridiculous..."

"Not at all!" The bartender busted out laughing, and he reached out and patted Halle firmly on the back. "You're the toughest woman we've had around here yet." A thought seemed to cross his mind as he looked back at her, laughing even harder. "You probably surprised the hell out of Hanai, am I right?"

"Tch, as if." Halle scoffed, handing the bartender Hanai's wine glass to refill. "Anyways, I honestly have no idea what even goes on in that head of his. I wouldn't know what to tell you."

The bartender topped off Hanai's glass with the bottle of red Merlot he was holding, chuckling a little. "Yeah, I get it." He set down the bottle and met Halle's gaze, and he had a suspicious look come across his face suddenly. "Hey, aren't you that heiress for that big technology company here in Japan or something?" The bartender wracked his brain for a memory as he scratched his chin, looking down at the counter. "Oh, what was it called...?"

Halle instantly shook her head, pulling herself back away from the counter before allowing him to really finish pitching his question. "Nah, sorry. You must have me mistaken for some other girl..."

"Hey, Mitchell!" Hanai suddenly shouted over to her from across the bar, wearing a very angry look on his face. "What's your problem, Mitchell? Are you deaf!?"

"I hear you!" Halle turned and yelled back, extremely irritated. "Hold your fuckin' horses..." She grumbled irritably under her breath, and the bartender just started laughing again.

Halle took Hanai's glass and marched back over to their table, and she set it down in front of him only to see that he was checking out the menu.

Hanai snapped his fingers again at her, not even removing his eyes from the menu. "Go ahead and order the octopus ceviche, smoked duck, spare ribs, spicy tacos, and the avocado and prosciutto salad." He folded up the menu and set it down, only then turning to look up at her standing angrily over him. "And be sure to get enough plates for everyone."

"Geez, do I look like a goddamn waitress to you!?" Halle rested her hands on her hips, raising an eyebrow as she glared down at Hanai. "I don't have an eidetic memory..."

Hanai just scoffed and glared right back at her. "I told you to take notes on everything I say!"

Halle's hands immediately flew up to grab her hair in frustration. "Even at a _bar!?_ For the love of..."

"Don't talk back to me!" Hanai leveled his glare with her gaze, sending a shiver down her spine from the scary aura he was radiating.

Halle shut her mouth instantly and turned to leave. "Geez... Okay, okay..."

Hanai scoffed in annoyance, bringing his glass to his lips. "You're starting to piss me off."

Halle whirled around and glared at Hanai with pure hatred and anger. "Oh, _you're_ pissed...?"

Kyobashi just shook his head as he stared down at his glass. "...get a room."

Both Hanai and Halle turned their heads at the same time to glare at Kyobashi, synchronizing their speech accidentally. "THIS IS _NOT_ FLIRTING!"

They both exchanged glares once more before Halle headed over to the counter again, and she ordered the food and picked up the necessary number of dishes for the guys. As she turned to go back to the table, she paused as she caught a glimpse of Hanai. He really _did_ look like the perfect detective. He projected an air of confidence, like he had never felt insecure about anything ever. She figured that was just one reason why he was so intimidating.

And honestly, she couldn't believe that she was working with a guy like that.

"Mitchell, hurry it up!"

"OH MY GOD, I AM COMING YOU _INSUFFERABLE..._ "

* * *

 **Ahhhh, don't you just love those two characters who are just _always_ arguing? It's so much fun writing about them XD I can't get enough of this. The MC in the game is a little more chill and able to put up with Hanai's shit than Halle, but that's just too boring, so obviously I just had to make Halle be an even bigger jerk back to him.**

 **This is so much fun! XD**

 **Not too much happened in this chapter, aside from getting a feel for how everyone acts around each other, their personalities, etc... I mean, other than some super subtle stuff I threw in there, that was about it. Aside from that, I hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter! The plot will FINALLY start to pick up in the next one.**

 ***anime tears are streaming down face* these first five chapters of the book are only the prologue plus chapter one in the game T-T *is banging head on desk repeatedly* why do I always do this...just why...**

 **Er... Read, review, and enjoy!**


	6. Chapter 6

Halle strode into Second Unit's office this morning with a big smile on her face, wide awake and ready to get started working. No one was in the office when she arrived, and she noticed a big cardboard box on her desk. Written on it was a little note that said it was from the West Arai Police Department, and inside were all of Halle's belongings that were on her desk at her old precinct.

"Nice, they sent my stuff!" Halle absentmindedly talked out loud to herself, beginning to rummage through her box of stuff. "I guess I really do work here now..."

She started to organize her things on her new desk, and she paused when she pulled out a picture frame. Halle held it in her hands and smiled fondly down at the framed photo.

It was her _favorite_ picture, and probably the best one she ever took. Halle and her brother Brad were sitting on a bench together at the park by their parents' house, and they both had big smiles on their faces. Halle was leaning back into Brad as he hugged her tightly and obnoxiously like an older brother would, and she held her cell phone up high and pointed the camera down at them for a nice angle.

It was hard to believe that they took this picture five _years_ ago...

Brad was twenty-seven at the time, and Halle was nineteen and just starting college when he took her to this park. It was their favorite park, and Brad had always taken Halle there as a child whenever she was sad, depressed, or stressed, and stress was the reason they paid it a visit _that_ day.

Halle had disobeyed her parents wishes and enrolled in the police academy, rather than going to the big, famous, private school Johoku University her father pulled strings to get her in to. He wanted her to go into technology, business, and design, that way she could some day work for the family business alongside her older brother Brad.

Brad Mitchell was the Vice President of M.I.C incorporated, and her father was hoping Halle would take Brad's place as VP after he retired and made Brad the president of M.I.C. Instead, Halle firmly explained she had _no desire_ to work for her father's technology company, and what she _really_ wanted to do was be a detective. She wanted to make the world a better place and make a difference, _not_ design new phones and tablets for the company like she had been doing in high school...

Being a detective just sounded so much more... _important_.

Her parents had been _furious_ when they found out, and they threatened to disown her. If it hadn't been for Brad and his wife Meredith who stood up for her, it was very possible that Halle would have been forced to choose between her job and her family. Luckily, it never came to that, and Halle's parents learned they needed to try and accept the fact that their daughter was different than them. Of course, that didn't stop them from trying to get her to quit her job and come back home nonstop. After all, Halle didn't even really _need_ to work a single day in her life. She had plenty of money to last her to the end of her days, but she still worked a very time-consuming job and lived in a modest apartment, despite her net worth.

Her parents never really understood their daughter, but Brad understood his sister, and that was why they had always been so close despite the eight-year age gap.

Halle set down the picture frame next to her laptop right as the door to the office opened, and she smiled slightly when she saw Hanai walk in.

"Good morning." She awkwardly flashed him a grin, raising her hand up to give him a slight wave.

"Morning." Hanai nodded to her casually, as if he hadn't been bossing her around the night before at Station and pissing her off at all.

 _"Wow, so he does know how to say good morning..."_ Halle bitterly thought to herself, contorting her face a little as she watched Hanai cross the room.

Even though he got on her nerves more often than not, Halle couldn't help but feel a little better about everything as a result of being properly greeted. Maybe she'd get used to working with the guys at Second Unit soon, and it all wouldn't be so bad...?

"Where is everybody?" Hanai looked annoyed that he was the only good detective in Second Unit that was punctual today, and he was unable to get started working as a result of it.

Halle shrugged her shoulders awkwardly. "No one was here when I arrived..."

"I see." Hanai hardly paid her any attention as he started to mess with the coffee maker, getting ready to make some.

Newbies were usually responsible for making coffee, but Hanai looked like he knew what he was doing. Maybe Halle should just leave it to him?

...

Nah. It was her responsibility, after all.

"Um, Hanai, let me do that..." Halle cautiously approached the detective standing by the coffee maker, motioning to take over for him.

"It's okay, I can handle it." Hanai casually tried to shoo her away, taking charge himself.

Halle grimaced a little at his stubbornness. She couldn't let a veteran detective make the coffee...

"No, it's fine." Halle waves her hands frantically, trying to make him not feel guilty about letting her do the work. "I can make it."

"...alright." Hanai shrugged a little as he stopped trying to open the coffee bag, and he handed it to Halle instead. "In addition to being in charge of taking notes, you can be in charge of coffee too."

Halle's eyes snapped open in shock. She wasn't expecting _that_... Now she was officially in charge of coffee? It's not like she could just come out and tell him she didn't really want to do it...

Halle's internal displeasure apparently showed on her face, and Hanai just scoffed as he looked at her. "Just wait there until the coffee's done." He spoke quickly before going to his seat, already done with this conversation.

Halle sighed sharply, muttering under her breath, "looks like today's going to be another day of getting bossed around..."

"Got it?" Hanai narrowed his eyes a little, furrowing his eyebrows as he stared across the room at his partner.

"Got it." Halle bit down on her lip, turning back to the coffee machine. "Wait here until the coffee's finished..."

Halle got everything ready and flipped the switch to turn the coffee maker on. She thought she saw some of her coworkers back at her old precinct do this, and she was _pretty_ sure she was doing it right. Halle wasn't really much of a coffee-drinker, and she preferred tea to anything else, so she wasn't quite sure how to work a coffee maker. However, after a couple minutes of fiddling with it, she figured it out and started it up. She watched it transfixed for a moment as it made a drip drop drip drop sound as it filled up the pot.

As Halle breathed in the nice smell of the coffee, the office door opened once more, and Kirisawa walked in with a cigarette in his mouth as usual. He had a soft smile on his face as he glanced at Halle and Hanai. "Hanai, Mitchell, you're both here?"

Hanai seemed to pick up on his boss's demeanor, figuring something was up. "What is it?" His mouth fell open slightly as he rose from his chair, looking over at Kirisawa.

"I need you both to go out on an undercover operation right away." Kirisawa had an unusually serious expression on his face as he addressed the two, and he jammed his hands in his pockets.

Halle blinked her eyes owlishly at her boss. "Undercover?"

Kirisawa sighed a little, running his hands through his hair. "I know you've got the bombing case to worry about, but First Unit is asking for some backup."

Hanai's lips drew into a thin line, and he fixed his serious gaze on Kirisawa, ready to get straight to work. "What's the case?"

Kirisawa smiled a little at Hanai's eagerness, and he began relaying the case to him. "First Unit's working on a drug-related case. That's what they want help with."

"Understood." Hanai smiled as he stood straight up, all ready to go at this point. "Where should we report to?"

"Johoku University." Kirisawa relayed the name of the top-notch college, and no one noticed Halle cringe at the mention of the university her father had once tried to force her to attend. "Apparently, someone's dealing to the students on campus."

"A campus drug dealer, huh?" Hanai thought over this information for only a second before he hardened his bitter expression and turned to snap at his partner. "Mitchell!"

"Yes?" Halle stiffened a little from suddenly being called on, and she was a little nervous about going on an undercover mission so soon after she had been blown up by a bomb.

"You'll pretend to be a student." He bobbed his head decisively, giving his order.

"Got it." Halle eagerly nodded her head in agreement, anxious to prove herself to Hanai. She wouldn't be regarded as useless this time!

Hanai got up from his chair and grabbed onto Halle's arm, pulling her out of the office. "Let's go!"

"Okay!"

* * *

 **So... We finally learn a little more about Halle. So, surprise, surprise! The MC this time isn't some pathetic damsel in distress who can't speak up for herself and is just a broke commoner. Nopedy nope nope NOPE! I love voltage games, but being the really feisty and independent sort of woman that I am, it's hard for me to sit back and hold my tongue XD I love making my MCs kick ass but flawed so they're not _too_ horribly cliche.**

 **So, I know that so far all the important stuff about our characters that we've learned so far has been learned by telling rather than showing, but I promise it won't be like that for much longer. I like to introduce important information by telling, that way it's in the back of your head and not as confusing when I jump in and just start showing you everything through dialogue and action-y scenes. Don't worry, this won't be some cliche book where Halle's family is only mentioned in passing and that's it, you actually WILL get to meet them, and I promise you that you're going to LOVE them when you do XD**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


	7. Chapter 7

They had arrived at Johoku University's campus only seconds ago, and Hanai was _already_ diving right into work. But it's not like Halle was really expecting anything _else_ from him.

"Only the administration and a few professors know that we are here. Be careful not to give yourself away to the students." Hanai seemed oddly in a good mood for once as he reminded his partner of key information, which could only be because he was on an exciting undercover job.

"Understood!" Halle grinned brightly from ear to ear, clapping her hands together with her eyes shut as she smiled.

Hanai's lips drew into a thin line as he quickly grew serious once more. "You're scheduled to attend a third period class. I'll be there too, in room 7-A." He crossed his arms a little, taking in a deep breath as he demonstrated his nonchalance about the whole thing. "Until then, just try to play it cool and get a feel for what the kids are talking about. I'll be investigating the faculty."

"Got it!" Halle gave her partner a thumbs up, trying to stay positive about this mission.

"Okay." Hanai laughed a little under his breath at the sight of her excitement, and he instinctively reached out to pat her on the head. "And don't forget to take notes on everything."

Halle smiled brighter as she excitedly held up a cute little blue notebook and a matching pen. "Don't worry, I've got this!"

Hanai smiled wryly at the look on her face, and he held up his hands in defense. "Alright, alright. Let's get going, then."

"Okay!"

And with that, the two detectives split up and headed off to start their own individual investigations.

* * *

"...I feel like I'm nineteen again." Halle awkwardly looked at herself in the girl's locker room mirror, glancing at her outfit.

If she was going to pretend to be a student and _not_ look like she was a twenty-four-year-old cop, she couldn't exactly march in dressed in her black trench coat carrying her two pistols in her shoulder holster. So, Halle brought some clothes with her she used to wear when she was in college four years ago, which remarkably still fit, since she hadn't grown that much at all since then.

Instead of keeping her cropped almond-brown bob down like she _usually_ did for work, Halle pulled her hair up into a high ponytail that looked super cute since it was adorably short. She wore a white, button-up, long-sleeve shirt underneath a navy blue dress that had straps only an inch thick, and the dress came down to the middle of her thighs and fit like a pencil skirt. Instead of her designer black pumps, Halle was wearing beige high-heeled booties that contrasted with her fair skin tone. And, for once, she was actually carrying a purse, which was a white shoulder strap purse that acted as her school bag.

All in all, she looked like your classic rich girl who attended a college like this.

...

Except _this_ rich girl was super awkward and a huge klutz.

"WHOA!"

Halle spun around and tried to open the door to leave the locker room, but she didn't see the trash can in the way and _completely tripped over it,_ face-planting onto the ground and slamming her stomach on the hard tile flooring.

"Ouch..." Halle grimaced as she coughed a little, trying to catch her breath. She pushed herself back up instantly as if she wasn't fazed at all, and she quickly dusted her clothes off and left the locker room. "Oh-kay... Time to try and not look inconspicuous. So I should probably avoid doing stupid shit like _that_ again."

She was just grateful that Hanai wasn't there to see her "graceful" moment.

There were lots of kids hanging out in the dining hall with their friends and chatting away wildly, so Halle figured she would start there for her little reconnaissance mission. And besides, she was starving! After standing in line for a few minutes and purchasing _three_ sandwiches for herself plus an iced tea, Halle nonchalantly took a seat in the middle of the cafeteria by herself as she observed everyone around her talking away and having a good time. She secretly pulled out her pen and notebook and set them on the table, and she started eavesdropping on a conversation coming from a group of students close to her as she munched away on sandwich number one.

"There's no way Emi doesn't have a boyfriend!"

"Man, you're obsessed with Emi as ever."

"Haven't you heard? Emi doesn't have a boyfriend, but she's like basically in love with this one guy."

"Are you serious? No way!"

"This is my first time hearing about it too."

Halle groaned internally as she felt her ears metaphorically start to bleed, thinking to herself _, "typical college kid talk..."_ She couldn't help but cringe internally every time she heard a snobbish girl open her mouth and speak, or when one of the sporty guys started gushing about this Emi girl. Why couldn't these people just be people, and not be a soulless shell of a person? Was it really _that_ hard? Just because they were richer, higher-class kids didn't mean they had to be so...well, cringe-worthy.

Despite her annoyance with it all, Halle heaved a heavy sigh and started writing down everything she heard. Even though it was just gossip, it would still help to know which kids belonged to what social cliques, and which ones "ran the school," so to speak. If someone was dealing drugs on this campus, she'd be looking for anyone who had come into a large amount of money lately, and to her, all of these kids looked guilty. She'd have to listen in on a lot more gossip to narrow down her pool of suspects.

"Look, it's Emi! Let's just ask her and see if it's true!"

"Uh-uh. No way. You guys can NOT ask her that."

"Don't be such a wuss!"

Halle discretely turned her head and looked over at the girl they called Emi, and she couldn't help but internally gawk a little at how beautiful this girl was. Emi's fashion sense and style rivaled her own, and she was sporting _insanely_ pricey jewelry Halle recognized from a really popular chain called Jean Taylor. A girl _that_ rich wouldn't really have a need to deal drugs, but it couldn't hurt to listen a little more, even if she was wearing a fifteen _thousand_ dollar Rolex.

"Hey Emi, is it true? Do you really have a guy you like?"

"H-hey!"

"Shh! I'm trying to talk here!"

"Oh my god, you've got to tell us! What's he like?"

The girl Emi just laughed arrogantly at her friends squabbling, enjoying looking at them practically jumping at each other's throats in attempt to get her to spill the juicy details. "He's pretty hot, so I've got a lot of competition."

Halle grimaced a little as she finished off her third sandwich, only feeling half full. She scribbled down everything she heard in her notebook, but she couldn't really tell if this was important information or not. But it couldn't hurt, right?

"So where'd you meet this dude?"

"School."

"What!? You mean THIS school?"

"Yeah. Well, I can't really tell you guys more than that." Emi smiled, looking truly happy.

Suddenly, the school's bell rang, and everyone but Emi got up and started to head to class. Halle found it a little fascinating how quick everyone seemed to clear out of there.

"Emi, it's third period. It's time for Biology."

"Okay."

Halle watched Emi sitting alone now, and she pulled out her phone and started texting. She kept periodically checking inside her bag, and Halle wondered if she lost her lip gloss or something.

"I don't have time for this..." Halle glanced down at the time on her cell phone, and she turned to run for room 7-A. "Hanai's going to _kill_ me if I'm late for class!"

* * *

Halle sped through the quiet hallways as she made her way to class with the other students, clutching her white bag close to her person. She was used to running in heels, so this was a breeze. What irked her though was this school seemed really nice, but she guessed she shouldn't be surprised there was a drug problem on campus. If she had listened to her parents five years ago, she probably would have come here to earn a degree in engineering, business, and technology. Halle always was big on mechanics and learning how things worked, not so much math, science, and history. And now she was supposed to attend this Biology class third period? Fantastic...

Two minutes away from her class now, Halle spotted a professor in a lab coat and a student at the end of the hallway talking to each other. They were both smiling and appearing to be having a pleasant conversation, and the girl student was looking at the professor with stars in her eyes. It almost looked like she was in love with him, which gave Halle a sickening feeling in her stomach. She never _did_ understand how teacher-student relationships could be rationalized enough by someone to actually go through with doing it... To her, the whole thing just seemed gross and totally inappropriate. Halle glanced over at the professor, and she noticed he was pretty handsome, which explained the girl's feelings for him.

"Man, I miss college..." Halle sighed to herself, reminiscing about her good days back at the police academy she went to.

Halle heard the girl say "thank you" as she walked by, and the professor smiled kindly which only caused the girl's eyes to sparkle even more.

"She really _is_ deep in love." Halle shook her head cynically with a scoff, rolling her eyes at the whole thing. "Compared to her, I..." She paused her thoughts, suddenly feeling a little jealous that she had never felt love like that even once in her life, and she continued walking and left the two of them behind.

Two girls walked into Halle's field of vision, and Halle picked up on their idle chatter next.

"Check it out, the Chemistry professor is with a girl again."

"God, everybody's so obsessed with him..."

Halle quirked an eyebrow at that, and she quickly scrawled _, "gross chemistry teacher is a skirt-chasing scumbag. Blegh,"_ in her notebook, before she quickly dashed into her classroom.

In her third period class, which was supposedly Biology, Halle walked into the giant orange classroom and awed at how huge this place was. There were rows and rows of stadium-style seating, and down at the front of the classroom was a long whiteboard mounted on the wall behind a podium. Halle didn't have a textbook or anything, so she couldn't let herself be noticed and decided to take a seat towards the back of the classroom. She instantly spotted Emi's snobbish friends from before sitting back here, and Halle cautiously sat down right next to Emi herself, seeing as she couldn't see Hanai anywhere in the mess of students. Where was that braggart, anyways? He said he would be here...

Halle feigned an innocent laugh, and she leaned over and pointed to Emi's textbook. "I'm sorry, but I forgot my textbook. Do you think I could share with you for today?"

"Yeah, sure." Emi smiled lightly, scooting over a little to share her seat with Halle. "No problem."

"Thanks." Halle grinned brightly, relieved that she said yes so quickly. She glanced down at Emi's watch, and she flipped her ponytail. "Nice Rolex. It's the stainless steel datejust oyster with the custom silver diamond dial, right?"

Emi's eyes widened a little in surprise. "Yeah... I'm surprised you know your accessories so well." She smiled a little with the corners of her lips. "Is that a Michael Kor handbag, and a Jean Taylor diamond tennis bracelet!?"

"You bet." Halle leaned her head in her hand that had the diamond tennis bracelet on it, smiling falsely in order to blend in with all the rich kids. "You speak prada?"

"Do I?" Emi scoffed, as if that question was a ridiculous one to ask.

The two girls shared a laugh as the classroom door suddenly creaked open, and Halle stared at the teacher in complete shock as he walked in.

"You have got to be _kidding_ me...!" Halle involuntarily squeaked out her surprise a little louder than she intended at the sight of Hanai in a lab coat, who was posing as the teacher.

When a few students around her turned to look at her oddly, she shrunk back in her chair in hopes of it just spontaneously swallowing her up in order to hide her embarrassment. Unfortunately, she had no such luck of that happening whatsoever.

The girls in the class started freaking out, and Emi and her friends exchanged looks.

Emi's jaw fell open as she smiled at Hanai in amazement, and she leaned over to Halle and whispered, "oh my god, he's so hot!"

Halle had an irritable look on her face as she glared ahead at her partner, tuning out all of the girls in the classroom who were currently swooning over him as she gritted her teeth. "Really? I don't see it."

"I've never seen this professor before."

"I hope he's our new professor!"

Hanai ignored the chatter coming from Emi's friends in the back and looked out over the class, clearing his throat to get everyone's attention. "I'm Mr. Hanai, and I'll be substituting for Mr. Suzuki today."

Even without a hint of a smile, his serious face appeared to have somehow stolen the heart of every girl in the class. He was dressed in what he usually wore to work, except he ditched the black blazer and just had on his white button-up and red tie under his lab coat, which gave him a few extra charm points.

"Alright, on to business." Hanai turned around, and he began writing scientific words Halle wasn't familiar with on the whiteboard. "Okay, the five on top are plant hormones and the five on bottom are their effects..."

Halle quirked an eyebrow and stared ahead at Hanai's back in complete confusion, and what she was thinking was written all over her face. She had no idea what he was talking about, but clearly Hanai knew what he was teaching, based on how strong and confident he sounded when delivering his lecture.

Hanai turned back around swiftly and commanded all attention from the students. "I'd like you to match up the hormones on top with their corresponding effects on the bottom." He set down his dry erase marker and scanned the crowd of students, looking for one specific girl in particular, and it took all of his strength to keep a smirk from plastering itself on his face as his eyes finally landed on her. "You, over there." Hanai pointed straight at Halle, calling on her to answer.

Halle had a mini heart attack, and she hoped to God that he couldn't _possibly_ mean her. She looked around only to find everyone staring at her, and she glanced back down at Hanai.

His expression hardened, and he pointed to her again. "You."

Halle gulped nervously. "Me...?"

"Yes, you." Hanai frowned bitterly at her stubbornness, and he rose an eyebrow as he watched for her response. "Stand up and answer the question."

...

Whaaaaaaat!?

Oh no, no! Halle didn't know _jack_ about Biology! She hadn't taken a Biology class since _high school!_

"Quickly, please." Hanai impatiently drummed his fingers on the wood podium, trying to speed her up.

"Umm, I think you should call on someone else." Halle quickly shook her head, and she glared ahead at Hanai and practically told him, _"don't you dare,"_ with her eyes.

Hanai hardened his glare, and he stubbornly refused to do so. "Just answer the question, please."

Halle gritted her teeth as she held back the intense look of annoyance that tried to make its way to her face, and left without any other choice, she stood up slowly and answered her best guess. "Abscisic acid...functions to stimulate root growth and promote fruit ripening...?"

Hanai just looked at her with a wry smile on his face before quickly glaring at her slack-jawed in anger. "Are you sure you're really a Biology student!?"

Halle didn't even try to hide her angry face as she glared at Hanai darkly, and she discretely flipped him off as she sat back down in her seat, which didn't go unnoticed at all by the master detective.

"Those answers are both incorrect." His lips drew into a thin line as he arrogantly shot her a glance from across the room. "Abscisic acid actually functions to control seed dormancy and stomatal regulation. Basic stuff, right?"

Halle bitterly showed him a malevolent glare, muttering under her breath, "show off..."

Hanai then ignored her completely and turned his head to a boy in the front row, and he outstretched his pointer finger to call on him. "Next, you, the boy in the blue shirt."

Halle tried to control her nerves and quickly scrawled _"Hanai is such a condescending prick"_ in her notebook as Emi and the other girls turned to talk to her.

"Lucky!" Emi squealed quietly to Halle, totally jealous. "I can't believe Mr. Hanai called on you!"

Halle scoffed in embarrassment, and she crossed her arms and glared at nothing in particular, trying to appear snobbish and of a higher class. "Hah, lucky? As if. I totally messed up."

"At least you tried!" One of the girls leaned over and pat Halle's shoulder to coax her, smiling enviously.

"That braggart doesn't care if I tried or not." Halle muttered under her breath, and the dark aura around her only seemed to intensify.

One of the other girls just shrugged her shoulders. "Well, at least he'll probably remember you."

Halle stressfully ran a hand through her bangs, gritting her teeth together in attempt to cover up the anger seething through them. "I would be completely fine with being forgotten."

And so, she remained angry and bitter for the rest of class, and she flipped off Hanai every time he incessantly called on her for the next two hours.

* * *

 **Ahahahahaha XD I remember being sooooo pissed off when Hanai was being a complete jerk in this part of the game... Obviously, I had to tweak the dialogue and the MCs reactions accordingly to make it more humorous ;)**

 **This is only half of the reconnaissance mission, so stay tuned for the rest of Halle and Hanai's drug-bust job in the next chapter!**

 **Read, review, and enjoy~**


	8. Chapter 8

"That jerk..." Halle grumbled to herself as she stepped out of her third period class, furrowing her eyebrows as she glared ahead in the hallways. "I can't believe he did that to me!" She kept quietly ranting to herself about how Hanai had embarrassed her earlier, unable to let this one go.

Suddenly, Halle's phone started ringing, and she quickly picked it up to see the contact picture of Hanai she had saved on her phone. The contact name "Stupid Braggart" was displayed on the screen for the Caller-ID. Quickly, her angry feelings towards him grew exponentially, but she couldn't just ignore him at a time like this even though she really wanted to.

"Yes?" Halle kept walking and she pressed her phone to her ear, doodling stick figures of herself strangling Hanai in her notebook.

 _"Meet me at the school gate."_

And there he goes, ordering her around again... Would it seriously kill him to be nice to her for once!?

 _"Are you listening?"_

Halle groaned a little, exhaling sharply. "Yes, I'm listening."

 _"How does a late lunch sound to you?"_

Halle was about to say something snarky in response, but her thoughts were interrupted by her stomach abruptly growling. "...that sounds good. I'll head right over there."

She sighed deeply before hurrying down the hall, and she made a point of walking by the lab on her way and she looked inside through the window. Emi was in there talking to the same Chemistry professor from before, and she was smiling and handling her makeup bag carefully, just like how she had done in the dining hall.

Halle quickly ducked behind a pillar in attempt to not be noticed, and she bitterly thought to herself _, "could she have been talking about this professor when she was describing the guy she likes...?"_

Gross.

Halle figured that guy really _was_ just as popular as they said.

Suddenly, her phone buzzed, and she looked down at the incoming text she just got from Hanai _. "Hurry up, Mitchell!"_

Halle rolled her eyes and sped down the hallway in her heeled boots, making her way to the meeting place where she was supposed to catch up with Hanai. She was out of breath by the time she arrived at the school gate, and she immediately spotted a grumpy Hanai waiting impatiently for her.

"What took you so long?" His mouth fell open wide as he scolded her, annoyed from having to wait for this woman for ten whole minutes.

"I'm sorry." Halle bit back her anger, and she forced herself to hold her tongue. They were undercover, so laying low unfortunately entailed not picking fights with Hanai while they were still on campus.

Hanai smiled a little at her apology, noticing she didn't talk back to him for once. "Let's go."

Halle looked at his back as he started to walk towards the parking lot, and she shook her head to herself. Even if he _was_ changed back into his normal black suit, no one on campus would recognize him as the professor who just taught their class, since he blended in so well. Halle, however, still wore her dress and boots from earlier, not wanting to go through the hassle of changing her clothes again. Now she _really_ didn't look like a detective at all.

Hanai shoved both of his hands deep into his pockets and briskly walked ahead of her, and the girls they passed by kept turning around to check him out.

Halle rolled her eyes, and she reluctantly admitted to herself that Hanai _was_ a little handsome, especially if you were unaware of what a jerk he was. She instinctively crinkled up her nose at the thought, and she followed Hanai back to his car.

* * *

Hanai brought her to a bakery not far from Johoku University, and he turned to look at Halle once they walked inside. "This is it."

The cute little bell on the door chimed, and Halle took in her surroundings, looking at the adorable little bakery in awe. "Looks nice."

There were lots of different kinds of sandwiches and pastries to choose from, and of course the one thing Halle's eyes, or should we say her _stomach_ , were drawn to immediately were the yummy-looking cupcakes.

"Order whatever you want." Hanai turned to her with that little sideways smile of his, nudging Halle forwards.

"Okay..." Halle clicked her high heels as she peered down at the display case with a child-like stare, and she instantly decided on what she wanted. She selected a croquette bun, and Hanai got a pork-cutlet sandwich, which unbeknownst to Halle was his usual order from this bakery.

The woman at the register with long black hair smiled gently as she rung up both their orders, and she recognized Hanai immediately as her number one regular customer. "That will be about twenty dollars all together."

Halle nodded her head and took out her wallet, and as she was reaching for her debit card, Hanai swooped in and paid for everything.

"Wha..." Halle rose her finger to protest, completely astonished by what Hanai had just done. "...I can pay for my own lunch, you know."

Hanai smiled genuinely and shot her an amused sideways glance. "Today's my treat."

"No, really..." Halle laughed a little, feeling a little awkward about letting a guy pay for her meal. "I'll pay for what I got."

"Don't worry about it." Hanai placed his hand on Halle's and pushed her wallet back down to her side, shaking his head no.

"But..." Halle still kept fighting him on this, uncomfortable letting him treat her to lunch. This wasn't a _date_ , they were just partners... Hanai really didn't have to do that for her.

Hanai didn't know, because she kept her personal life _very_ private, but Halle was so much richer than he could even _imagine_... The rich students she met at that school were _nothing_ compared to her net worth. _She_ should be the one treating _him_ to lunch.

Hanai started to get a little annoyed with how stubborn Halle was being about this. It was the man's job to pay for things like this, after all, even if it _was_ just lunch for his partner at work. "I said it's fine."

Halle shook her head no. "No, Hanai, I should pay..."

"Let it go already!" Hanai snapped angrily at her, completely frustrated as he didn't even let her finish her sentence.

The woman behind the counter looked uncomfortable as Hanai rose his voice to Halle, and all she could muster up to say was, "um..."

"Sorry about that." Hanai turned to her with a smile, and if you didn't know any better, it looked like he wasn't angry at all just two seconds ago. "Here you go." He handed her his cash, and he slipped five dollars into her cute little tip jar on the counter. He then turned to look at Halle with a sharp glare, causing the girl to jump back a little in alarm. "That's a direct order. Obey it."

Halle felt like she couldn't breathe from the mean look he was giving her out of the corner of his eye, and she clutched her wallet close to her chest as she drew back a little. "Okay..."

"Thank you." The woman behind the counter grinned brightly at Hanai's generosity, trying not to stare awkwardly at the cute couple in front of her that were just having a lover's quarrel over the bill. "Have a nice day!"

Halle watched as Hanai walked past her and headed for the door, and she found herself staring down at her feet in shock. "No one has _ever_ done something like that for me before..."

Hanai suddenly turned around, thinking he had heard Halle's voice for a moment there. "Did you say something?"

Halle suddenly looked up in alarm, and she shook her head no and quickly began plodding behind him to catch up. "No, nothing..."

* * *

They sat down on two swings next to each other in a nearby park, and Hanai handed Halle her croquette bun.

"Thank you." She smiled awkwardly, averting his gaze shyly as she started to tear into the packaging around her food.

"No problem." Hanai didn't even look at her as he started working on eating his lunch.

Halle took one big bite out of her sandwich, and her eyes sparkled and widened exponentially in delighted surprise. "T-this is amazing!"

She had tasted a lot of high-quality, rich foods in her life, coming from the family that she did, but this sandwich right here was probably her new favorite everything.

"Right!?" Hanai laughed a little and relaxed his posture, sharing Halle's thoughts. "That bakery is the best." He looked over at his partner taking another huge bite of her sandwich, and a gentle smile crossed his face at the sight of the child-like look she had on her face.

Halle's eyes snapped wide open at the sight of Hanai's smile. He was _smiling!?_ She had never seen him smile like _that_ before! Every time he smiled at her before it was cocky, arrogant, or sarcastic. This one was actually a genuine, happy smile.

 _"So this is what he looks like when he smiles..."_ Halle thought to herself, keeping that inside her head. For some reason, it just wasn't the smile she had expected to come from him, and clearly her shock was written all over her face.

"Is something wrong?" Hanai's smile relaxed a little, and he quirked his eyebrows at her curiously.

"Huh?" Halle snapped from her thoughts, staring at Hanai awkwardly. "Oh, no... It's just..." She looked away from her partner and concentrated on eating. "Nothing. Never mind." Her heart was beating so fast, and she was internally cringing, hoping that he couldn't hear it. Her nerves got the best of her, and she coughed quietly as she choked on some bread. "Ow..." Halle clutched her throat as a pained look crossed her face.

"You okay?" Hanai's expression quickly changed into one of concern, looking over at her worriedly. "I'm sorry, I forgot to buy us something to drink..."

"No, it's fine." Halle waved him off, and she pulled her purse into her lap and started digging around in it for something. "I brought something with me...ah, here it is." She pulled out her bottle of milk tea from her bag, and she immediately gulped some down.

"Let me have some too."

Suddenly, her bottle was taken out of her hands, and she stared at Hanai owlishly as he stole a sip from it without waiting for her reply. Halle held up her finger and opened her mouth to say something, figuring she'd point out that her lips were just on that, but he was done quickly and innocently held the bottle back out to her.

"Thanks." Hanai gave her his little half-smile, watching as she awkwardly accepted the bottle of milk tea back from him. "That stuff's pretty good, but it's too sweet for me." Hanai took another bite of his sandwich, paying the look on his partner's face no mind.

Halle awkwardly stared down at her bottle and darted her gaze back and forth between both it and her partner, unsure of what to do now. Wouldn't it just be weird to drink after him like this...? Yeesh... If only he knew what trouble he was causing her. What was her problem, getting all worked up like this when Hanai didn't even seem to be thinking about it at all?

Halle shook her head in attempt to get a hold of herself, but the thought of drinking after him was still just too embarrassing, so she awkwardly just held the bottle for awhile without taking another sip from it. "You know, I almost went to that university."

"Really?" Hanai quirked an eyebrow at her, and he paused eating his lunch to listen to her. "But it's not a police academy... What made you change your mind?"

"Oh, my mind never changed." Halle bitterly smiled to herself. "I've wanted to be a detective since I was nine; my parents are the ones who pushed me to go to that school."

"Why?" Hanai looked over at her, genuinely curious. This was the first time she had ever shared something personal with him.

"They don't want me to be a detective..." Halle laughed awkwardly as she gripped the chains on the swing she was sitting on. "They have never approved of me, or my decisions. To them, I'm just a child, and I shouldn't be working a dangerous job like this. I apparently _should_ be working for them and the family business." Her head rested itself against one of the chains on the swing she was sitting on. "My parents wanted me to study engineering and business at that school, but I disobeyed them and enrolled in the police academy instead."

Hanai's eyes widened a little in shock at the sound of that. "Oh. Your parents had a specific future for you set in their minds, huh?"

He never would have guessed a girl like her had problems like this at home. She never showed any pain she may have been feeling on her face before just now, and it kind of made him wonder if she had always been putting up a brave face in front of Second Unit and everyone at the MPD.

"Hah! That's the understatement of the century." Halle scoffed, and she turned her chin up towards the sky and gently shut her eyes. "My mother _hates_ that I'm a detective, and she's always telling me it's unladylike and I should just quit and marry some nice guy, and settle down to have a family." She turned to look at Hanai and comically twisted her face into one of disgust. "Bo- _ring_. I have no intention of doing that."

Hanai laughed a little at the look on her face, not expecting her to say that. He thought all women couldn't _wait_ to get married and have a family, but Halle was the exact opposite: she was a career woman who only wanted to live and breathe her job.

Halle then sighed and stared down at the ground, and she looked a little sad as her voice got quieter and quieter. "I just hope I can become the kind of detective they can be proud of... I'm tired of being a disappointment."

Hanai's expression faltered, and it was as if for just a moment he could feel her pain. He had no idea what to say to that, and the two detectives just sat there in a comfortable silence for the remainder of their lunch together.

* * *

Back at the university, Hanai and Halle went back to questioning the students, and Halle took notes on what Hanai and the students said. As always.

"Excuse me." Hanai approached one of the guys out in the court yard, tapping on his shoulder.

"What's up?" The guy casually turned to look at Hanai, pulling one of his earbuds out of his ear to listen.

Hanai looked calm with a relaxed smile on his face as he questioned the student, and Halle stood right behind him taking notes. "Recently, has anyone you know suddenly come into a lot of money?"

The student seemed to think about it for awhile before shaking his head no. "Nope, I don't think so. But if you're looking to make money, taking on extra hours at your after school job is probably a good idea." The guy was completely oblivious to the fact that Hanai was a cop, thinking that he was just another college kid.

"That's true..." Hanai played it off casually, unfazed by the guy's assumptions about him. "...but I'm talking about a much more dramatic, sudden change in income."

The guy pressed a finger to his lips, thinking hard about Hanai's question. "Hmm... I don't know anyone like that. My friends are always complaining that they're broke."

"I see." Hanai turned his head to the side, smiling at the kid like he always did with witnesses he questioned. "Thanks."

They walked away from the student and started interviewing anyone who was suspicious, or simply was dressed expensively, which was a _lot_ of the kids at this school. The students here were at completely opposite sides of the spectrum, and Halle and Hanai rarely found someone in-between. You were either _insanely_ rich, or a classic broke college kid. Unlucky for the two detectives, they came up with pretty much nothing but gossip, just like the information Halle had gathered in the dining hall earlier that day.

Hanai stopped under a tree and turned around suddenly, and he laughed a little when Halle awkwardly bonked her forehead on his broad chest, not noticing that he had suddenly stopped. "Can you show me the notes you took before?"

Halle awkwardly rubbed her forehead, handing over her notebook to Hanai. "Sure."

Hanai quickly began to look over what she had written, and a serious look crossed his face. "Mitchell, can I hang on to this for a little while?"

"No problem." Halle nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders, not really caring. "I remember everything I wrote down anyways."

Hanai shut the notebook and made a brief snapping sound as he did so. "Okay, well we'll split up again from here." He gave her a short wave as he turned to leave. "I'll get in touch with you later. Good luck."

"You too." Halle half smiled to him before awkwardly walking away, and they both went back to going undercover.

* * *

When Halle went to the bathroom to fix her makeup, she found Emi and her friends there.

"Hi." Halle gave Emi a tiny wave, being super casual about it.

"Hi." Emi smiled at her in recognition before turning back to what she was doing.

Halle held her makeup bag in her hands and smiled at the girls before turning to the mirror and began fixing her makeup. She could see Emi's reflection out of the corner of her eye, and she watched as the other girls gave Emi money. Emi stealthily took something out of her makeup bag, hid it in her hand, and passed it to the other girls. The girls took what Emi gave them and stashed it in their makeup bags, and Halle was immediately on alert as she listened to the girls chatting with each other. After they left, Halle stared at her reflection in the mirror and glared at in in thought.

"So, _Emi's_ the distributor." Halle sighed, disappointed. She _really_ didn't think Emi would be involved, because she had no motive really. A girl who could afford a fifteen thousand dollar watch doesn't really have a need to deal drugs. "She might be the only one, but it's possible multiple people are distributing... But where does she get the drugs from?"

She couldn't follow after Emi and confront her, because that would risk blowing her cover. Emi was just the middle man, so Halle had to figure out who the real one in charge was, and she wasn't about to get anything out of Emi if she just confronted her.

Great... _now_ what?

Halle stared at her reflection quizzically as a thought crossed her mind. "There's something not right about all of this..."

Something was bugging her about this case. Emi, students, makeup bag, money... Emi, the boy she likes, popular, Chemistry professor, lab, makeup bag... Chemistry professor, girls, hallway...

As these thoughts raced through her mind, Halle's eyes snapped wide open as she had an epiphany. "No way..."

Halle quickly left the bathroom and began navigating her way through the hallways, and she headed to the lab where she had seen Emi talking to that Chemistry professor before. The curtains were drawn and the room was dark as she stepped inside, which gave Halle an uneasy feeling. She never really liked the dark or small spaces thanks to a traumatic incident she endured as a child, and this lab was giving her the creeps. It didn't look like anyone was here, but Halle made sure to be quiet just in case as she decided to poke around a little bit.

Halle wrinkled up her nose in disgust as she looked around the classroom, not particularly liking the strong scent of chemicals that flooded the room. It took her a moment to realize there was another door inside the lab, which probably led to the professor's private office, which was _exactly_ where Halle wanted to look.

She tried opening the second door, and luckily for her it was unlocked. It lead to a smaller room with shelves _filled_ with chemicals and a teacher's desk, and the smell was even stronger in here.

"There's got to be _something_ in here..." Halle muttered out loud to herself as she looked at the seemingly infinite number of glass containers, noticing they were all labeled and neatly organized. Her heart stopped when she laid eyes on one of the containers in particular that looked suspicious. "What is...?"

This container had a bunch of little bags stuffed inside that were _filled_ with white powder.

Halle smirked a little to herself in triumph at this discovery. "Gotcha..." She reached up to take the container down from the shelf, but then she suddenly heard the sound of a door closing.

Someone was here!?

Halle immediately hid in the shadow of a shelf, and she snuck towards the door to see what was going on. She held her breath anxiously out of fear, and she pushed on the door only to realize that it was now locked.

"Oh my god..." Halle's eyes widened in horror as she realized someone had locked her in this small space, and her heart started to beat erratically.

She was trapped in this tiny space.

All alone.

...

Halle felt like she couldn't breathe, and she held onto her arms tightly in fear. She _hated_ small spaces like this. She could handle being in a car and in an elevator as long as they kept moving and she knew that she wasn't trapped inside, but...

...

Wait.

Did someone lock her in from the _outside_ of the door, or...?

Halle felt a chill run down her spine as she realized the door could only lock from the _inside_ , and she cautiously turned around.

And as soon as she did, she felt something get wrapped tightly around her neck.

* * *

 **Ohoho... First real cliffhanger of the book XD do you guys hate me for this? Yes? No? Probably...**

 **Time to hide now and pray for my life.**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


	9. Chapter 9

Halle fearfully turned around, and as soon as she did, she felt something tightly get wrapped around her neck.

Her breath was strangled as she watched the Chemistry professor begin to choke her with his bare hands. She quickly resorted to self-defense tactics as soon as she got over the initial shock of being attacked, and Halle tilted her head to the side and pinched the guy's hand in-between her cheek and her shoulder as hard as she could. She then twisted out of his grip, but the Chemistry professor quickly lunged to grab her throat again, and Halle delivered one swift kick to his abdomen with her heeled boot, which sent him crashing into a shelf full of chemicals behind him.

Halle coughed hoarsely as she tried to regain her balance, but the fight wasn't over yet. Before she could deliver another blow, the Chemistry professor smashed a glass beaker over her head, and the pieces of shattered glass clattered all over the floor.

Halle struggled to remain conscious as she half fell onto the desk, and she struggled to try and stay up. She felt an explosion of pain erupt from the back of her head, and she felt insanely dizzy as her vision started to go black. Her extensive training in martial arts wouldn't do her any good if she couldn't even remain _conscious!_

And for once in her life, she was hoping to _God_ that Hanai would get here soon.

"MITCHELL!"

Halle heard a loud noise, and she flickered her faltering gaze over to the locked door that was suddenly slammed open violently as if it had been kicked in. The Chemistry professor immediately tried to make a break for it, but he was grabbed by Hanai and slammed back into the wall.

Halle was relieved, and she sank down onto the floor covered in broken glass. She was fighting really hard to remain conscious, but the stream of blood running down her face and the splitting headache she had wasn't helping.

The Chemistry professor tried to escape Hanai's grip, but he quickly delivered a strong kick and a punch to him, and Halle watched in amazement as Hanai angrily grabbed his shirt and shoved him into the wall.

"You really think I'm going to let you go!?" Hanai angrily yelled at the professor, tightening his grip on his shirt collar.

The professor awkwardly remained silent, and his silence only encouraged Hanai to keep talking.

"So, you're the one?" Hanai looked him up and down with an intense look of disgust on his face. "Making money off of forcing your own student to sell drugs..."

The professor quickly tried to cover his ass by speaking hoarsely from the tight grip Hanai had on his shirt collar. "I didn't force anyone to do anything! I'm just providing product to those willing to buy!"

Hanai glared at him unbelievably, even _more_ disgusted with the professor if that was possible. "You've gotta be _kidding_ me!" He tightened his grip on the professor further, looked him in the eye, and sneered. "There are some things that just shouldn't be for sale. A grown man like yourself should understand at least that much!"

Hanai turned the professor around and pressed his face up against the wall, and just as he took out his handcuffs, a group of men Halle faintly recognized walked into the room: it was the guys from First Unit.

"That's far enough. Arrest him on suspicion of selling controlled substances."

A First Unit detective cuffed the Chemistry professor, and Halle stared at them in shock, wondering why they didn't let Hanai cuff him when he was the one who did all the work. Even when only half conscious, Halle was still appalled by what she had just seen. They snatched the arrest right out of his hands...

The First Unit detectives took the professor away, and one of them turned and patted Hanai on the back. "Nice work, Hanai."

Hanai simply looked straight ahead with a serious expression on his face. "...it was nothing."

Halle stared at Hanai unbelievably. Wasn't he going to argue? Hanai, what's wrong with you!?

Hanai watched the First Unit detectives leave, and he turned to walk over to Halle. "Mitchell, are you okay?"

"My head is _killing_ me..." Halle reached up to clutch the spot on her head that was throbbing, and she winced and pulled back immediately. She stared at her hand that was now covered in blood, frozen in shock. "...oh. That's probably why."

Hanai's eyes widened in horror when he noticed she was bleeding, and he hurriedly grabbed some gauze off of the counter and gently applied pressure to her head wound. "Geez, Mitchell! What happened in here!?"

Halle was so out of it that she appeared to be unconcerned with her injury, and her self awareness was down completely. "Oh, he tried strangling me, but I kicked him into the shelf, and then he hit me with something glass..." She winced a little as Hanai removed the gauze from her scalp, and she used a cloth he handed her to wipe the blood off her face.

"Good girl..." Hanai shook his head and laughed a little, actually proud of her for fighting back. "Can you stand? We need to get you back to the MPD to get this looked at. It looks minor, but since it's a head injury, it's bleeding a lot."

Halle blinked a few times as she responded. "Yes, I think so..."

Hanai slipped his arm underneath Halle's, and he wrapped his arm around her back to help support her and she stood up. Her balance wavered a little as she tried to stand up straight, and Hanai held onto her tight to try and help her up.

As soon as Halle was upright, everything went black and she felt like she was going to collapse. The world around her seemed to move in slow motion, but somewhere in her warped consciousness, she felt arms reaching out to hold her.

Halle wasn't falling anymore. Something strong was supporting her.

Barely conscious, Halle tried to open her eyes. A dark tie, a vest, and a jacket... Soft hair brushing against her cheek...

And at that thought, her consciousness faded away completely.

* * *

Warmth. _That_ was her first thought as her consciousness started to return. Halle felt warmly wrapped up in something, and she slowly flickered her eyes open.

She was pressed against Hanai's chest, being held tightly in his arms as he sat on the floor of the chemistry lab.

Halle stared up at Hanai in confusion, and she tried to process what had just happened. "Uh..."

"You're awake?" Hanai looked slightly relieved at the sight of her open eyes, and his expression quickly hardened into a serious one. "You looked like you were going to fall, so I caught you."

"Oh." Halle relaxed and slumped her head back a little, not even trying to hold it up at this point. How embarrassing...

She fainted. In front of Hanai.

...

Ugh!

Halle's whole face flushed red, feeling more embarrassed than angry. She was mad at herself for screwing up like this. Halle was determined to not be a useless screw up damn it all, and look what happened!?

Hanai seemed unconcerned with the fact that she had fainted on the job, and he smiled gently down at her, trying to make sure she was alright. "Are you okay?"

"Yes..." Halle awkwardly covered her face with her hands, muttering under her breath, "I'm so sorry..."

"It's fine." Hanai casually shook his head, not mad at all. For once. "Can you stand?"

"I think so." Halle responded to his question as Hanai loosened his arms around her.

She really didn't know if she could stand on her own or not, but she was at least going to try. Halle slowly sat up and carefully began to rise to her feet, and Hanai stood right by her, making sure she didn't fall again.

"You seem okay..." Hanai looked her over, and he noticed that her head had stopped bleeding. He had applied pressure to it with more gauze for the two minutes she was unconscious in his arms. "Can you walk?"

Halle tried taking a few steps and clumsily fell into Hanai's arms, and she immediately scolded herself internally. "...okay, don't laugh Hanai, but I only fell this time because I'm a klutz, and not because I'm injured."

Despite Halle's orders, Hanai _did_ laugh at her a little, which made her face flare up even more red in embarrassment.

Hanai stood her back up again, completely oblivious to his partner's racing heart. "You must have fainted out of relief, and from the shock of taking that hit to your head."

"I guess..." Halle winced a little, clutching her forehead with her hand. "I am so sorry..."

"It's fine." Hanai looked as serious as ever, surprisingly not mad or annoyed at all. "You don't have to apologize for every little thing."

"Okay..." Halle pouted a little, very disappointed in herself a the moment.

Every little thing... Hah. Being held by Hanai after fainting wasn't a "little thing."

Hanai smiled a little at her wryly, trying to lighten the mood. "If you're going to be thankful, be thankful that I made it in time."

"Oh, yeah." Halle's eyes widened a little, having completely forgotten about that. "Thank you, Hanai..."

Hanai looked at her without smiling, as usual, and he motioned to walk towards the door. "Well, let's get back to headquarters. We'll need to thoroughly check to see if any glass got stuck in your scalp in our infirmary."

"Okay."

"Are you sure you don't need to go to a hospital?"

"Yeah, it's fine. It's nothing too major, so let's just go back to the MPD."

"Alright."

Halle snuck a glance at Hanai's face as they left the room together, noticing that he just looked as cool and confident as ever. Honestly, she was jealous.

Halle stared down at the floor somberly as she thought to herself _, "I hope working with someone like you can help turn me into someone my parents can be proud of..."_

* * *

Luckily, the injury Halle sustained to her head turned out to be just a minor cut. However, since it was a head wound, it bled a lot, which made it look a lot worse than it really was. Hanai had taken her to the MPD's infirmary as soon as they got back, and he picked out all of the glass in her hair and carefully applied a medicinal ointment to her cut. Halle was fine everywhere else, but the guys were a little nervous about letting her drive herself home tonight, so they told her she needed to get a ride home from someone just for today.

By the time she got back to the Second Unit office, Halle recognized the familiar smell of coffee brewing. Oh yeah, that reminded her...they left so early this morning that Hanai didn't even get to drink any, and she didn't get to have her morning tea.

Yachigusa caught sight of Halle, and he waved to her with a cheerful smile. "Hey, Halle! You're just in time for a coffee break." He held out a coffee cup to her. "Do you want some?"

"Oh, no thank you." Halle politely turned him down, awkwardly smiling at him. "I don't really drink coffee...oh, but I should probably go get Hanai some."

"It's fine, just sit down." Yachigusa laughed a little, and he pulled out her desk chair for her. "You took a hit to the head, and even though it was just a little cut, you must be tired from today."

Halle smiled from his concern, and she shook her head no. "Thanks, but I'll go make some for Hanai. I'm sure he'll want it."

He didn't drink any coffee this morning, which was probably why he was extra grumpy today. Right now, he was telling Kirisawa that the suspect was apprehended, so Halle couldn't really ask him if he wanted some coffee at this moment. Oh well, she would just make him some just in case.

Halle walked over to the coffee machine and made enough coffee for Hanai, and she paused when it occurred to her that she didn't even know how Hanai took his coffee. Did he take milk and sugar with it, or...?

She glanced out the window of the office, and Hanai was still talking to Kirisawa. Still couldn't ask him himself... Well, Yachigusa would probably know, so maybe she should ask him?

"Hey, Eiki." Halle looked over her shoulder at Yachigusa, instantly getting his attention. "Do you know how Hanai takes his coffee?"

"He always takes it black." Yachigusa answered her question before going back to attending to the stack of paperwork on his desk.

"Okay, thanks!" Halle smiled at him as she finished making the cup of coffee, and she crossed the room to Hanai's desk and set it down next to his laptop for him.

Halle then went back to her own desk, and just then, Hanai and Kirisawa finished talking and they came into the office. Hanai immediately went to his desk, and he instantly picked up the cup of coffee and stared at it curiously. "Who made this?"

Halle blinked her eyes owlishly as she stared at him from her desk right next to him. "Oh, I did..." She awkwardly rose her hand up a little. "We had to leave in a hurry this morning, and you didn't get the chance to drink any."

"Oh yeah, I guess we did." Hanai smiled a little as he stared down at the cup of coffee in his hands. He rose it to his lips, but he suddenly stopped before taking a sip. "This doesn't have any sugar in it, does it?" He shot a suspicious look over to his partner, hoping she didn't screw up his coffee.

"No, it's black coffee." Halle shook her head, then jerked her thumb in the direction of Yachigusa. "I asked Eiki how you liked it so I wouldn't mess it up."

Hanai smiled at her wryly in delighted surprise, and he took a sip of his coffee. "You can be pretty perceptive sometimes..." He had this intense look of bliss and relaxation on his face as he sighed deeply. "Yes, finally... _coffee."_ Hanai leaned back in his chair, and he gently shut his eyes.

Halle's head fell into her hand as she stared at him _. "I guess anyone would be tired after the day we just had..."_ She thought to herself, feeling a little tried as well.

Going undercover, saving her, finding and arresting their suspect... But even after all of that, he still looked totally together. In a way, Halle felt like she sort of understood a little bit of what those college girls felt. Of course, those girls had no idea what a jerk he really was.

"Mitchell."

"Hmm?" Halle looked up from her desk over at Kirisawa, who had called to her.

"Good job on today's case." He smiled in approval to her, giving a thumbs up. "Sounds like you deserve a lot of the credit."

Halle's eyes snapped open in surprise. "The...credit?"

"That's what Hanai said." Kirisawa nodded his head, and he looked over at the brunette in question. "Right, Hanai?"

"Um, yeah... I guess." Hanai replied with his eyes still closed, a little tired.

Halle stared at him curiously. What did he mean by she deserved a lot of the credit? Not understanding, she looked at him for an explanation, but one never came.

"It's all thanks to Hanai that we were able to take the suspect into custody." Halle rested her head in her hand again, looking over at her partner.

Kirisawa smiled a little at this information. "Well, that's the proof that your investigation was a success."

"In other words," Yachigusa suddenly butted into the conversation. "You two make a good team. You click."

Halle stared at Yachigusa for the longest time before she suddenly busted out into a hysterical fit of laughter, and Hanai's eyes snapped open at the sound of Yachigusa's comment. He glared over at him in annoyance before saying, "us, click? You've got to be joking."

"I was just thinking that you guys must click as a team since you were successful." Yachigusa rolled his eyes a little at the sarcasm coming from those two, laughing a little.

Halle shook her head to herself. She and Hanai clicked? Oh, please...that was ridiculous. Halle just figured it had been Hanai's instincts as a detective that told him she was at the lab, and that's why he came rushing in when he did. It's not like they had a special connection or anything.

* * *

 **Yowch. Glass objects being smashed over your head are never fun, but lucky for Halle her injury wasn't too major. And I didn't keep you guys waiting _too_ horribly long with that cliffhanger, so at least I wasn't too mean to you! XD**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


	10. Chapter 10

Halle got up and politely dismissed herself from the office, and she stepped out into the blue-grey, brightly lit hallway to make a phone call. Who do you call first when you need a favor? Best friends, of course.

Halle held her phone up to her ear, and she sighed bitterly when the call went straight to voicemail. "Come on, Sam... I really need you right now." She sighed to herself and hung up the phone, then called her again, only to end up with the same result. This time, she left her a voicemail. "Hey, Sam. It's Halle. Look, I got injured at work today, and the guys are worried about letting me drive myself home today. Don't worry, I'm fine, but can you come and pick me up? Call me back when you get the chance..." Halle hung up the phone, and she leaned up against the wall heavily. "That scatterbrain...why isn't she picking up?"

Halle was about to head back to the office when she suddenly saw Yachigusa walking towards her, and she paused and looked at him.

"Hey, Halle, have you ever been up to the roof?" Yachigusa wondered curiously, and based on the puzzled look on her face, she hadn't been. "Haha, I guess not. Do you feel like having a peek? I'll show you the way."

Halle shrugged her shoulders. "Alright, sure. Thanks!"

She followed behind Yachigusa the whole way up to the roof, and thanks to the sunset, the roof was awash in oranges and reds. It was a gorgeous view of the city from up here, and the roof was framed all the way around by a railing made up of metal bars. There were a few benches installed up here as well, and Halle guessed this was a common "go to" place for the guys in Second Unit. She could certainly see why.

"It feels so nice up here." Halle smiled as she took in a deep breath, stretching her arms relaxingly up towards the orange sky.

Yachigusa grinned when he saw that she liked it up here, and he placed one of his hands on his hip. "Everyone in Second Unit comes up here when they need a break."

Halle turned around a little and took in the full view of the roof. "It's a nice place to relax."

Yachigusa laughed a little, thinking about something funny. "Boss says the roof is the one place where we're not allowed to fight."

"Not allowed to fight?" Halle looked up at Yachigusa curiously, not really sure what he meant by that.

Yachigusa frowned a little, staring down at the concrete floor. "We tend to fight a lot."

"I can imagine, but..." Halle hesitated to finish her sentence, and Yachigusa quickly cut her off.

"But, no matter what happens, we're not allowed to fight here." His usual smile returned to his face, and he nodded to the rookie detective.

"Hm." Halle rested her head in her hand, leaning on the rooftop's railing.

Yachigusa just laughed a little. "Boss would get really angry if we fought here."

Halle exhaled sharply in amusement, just imagining it. "I bet Kirisawa's really scary when he's angry."

"You don't even _know_..." Yachigusa cringed a little, and he seemed to be having a terrifying flashback. "So, everyone tries to get along."

"Haha!" Halle chuckled adorably, and she covered her mouth partially with one of her hands. "That's kind of cute."

Yachigusa laughed awkwardly, and he reached back to scratch the back of his head. "That's one of the good things about the misfit unit."

Halle blinked a few times, a little confused. "The...misfit unit?"

Yachigusa's face fell a little, and he crossed his arms over his chest. "Yeah, everyone at the MPD calls First Unit 'the pros,' and Second Unit 'the misfits.'"

Halle bit down on her lower lip, and she looked off to the side. "Regardless of what they call you, you guys are all excellent detectives."

Yachigusa smiled at the praise Halle had given him and the guys, and he seemed a little happier. "We're different from First Unit, though. We're, how should I explain..." He paused a little as he pressed a finger to his lips, trying to figure out how to word it. "We all have really distinctly different personalities. I think that helps us to solve cases."

Halle laughed a little, agreeing with that statement fully. "Yeah, you guys aren't exactly run-of-the-mill."

Yachigusa smiled brightly. "Plus, Boss is really encouraging of our different investigative styles." He suddenly heard his phone start to ring, and he hurriedly motioned to pick it up. "Oh, sorry! Somebody's calling me." Halle watched as Yachigusa answered his phone, and he started to talk to someone. "Yes? This is Yachigusa... Understood. I'll be right back." He hung up the phone and sighed sharply. "I've got a case... Take it easy, Halle." Yachigusa frowned in disappointment, and he patted Halle on the shoulder as he turned to leave.

"Okay." Halle smiled a little, and she waved good-bye to him. "Good luck!"

Yachigusa ran back downstairs, leaving Halle alone up on the rooftop. Now all by herself, she turned back around and gazed at the sunset in a comfortable silence. It really was nice up here, _and_ very relaxing, which was just what Halle needed after a day like today.

"Beautiful." Halle smiled fondly to herself, resting her head in one of her hands.

Today went by so quickly. Actually, since she joined Second Unit, the days had all been passing by so fast. She hadn't even taken the time to look at the sky like this since she was in the hospital.

Halle couldn't help but think to herself that she needed to figure out how to improve and stop getting in Hanai's way. She would make him proud of her, _and_ her parents. They would see!

Even though she was _supposed_ to be taking a break, work was the only thing on her mind, as always.

"I'd better relax, or all of this stress is going to make me crazy..." Halle sighed to herself, and she deeply started to massage her temples in attempt to make her headache go away.

She was up here for perhaps half an hour, just being lost in her own thoughts. Sam still hadn't called her back, and as of right now, she had no way of getting home.

She didn't want to call Brad, because he was in Okinawa right now, and she didn't want to be a burden on him. Calling her parents was definitely out of the question, so as of right now it looked like she would be walking home tonight. She was hoping Sam could just come get her, since it would be more convenient for her to be Halle's ride home because they both lived in apartments right next to each other, but...

"Mitchell?"

"Hm?" Halle blinked her eyes a few times as she turned to look over her shoulder at who had spoken to her, and she was very surprised to see Hanai standing there.

"You're here?" Hanai casually walked up to her, and he took his place next to her at the balcony and leaned on the railing.

"Hello, Hanai..." Halle smiled a little, turning her head to look at him with it still resting in her hand. "Yeah, Eiki was showing me around earlier."

"You don't have to stand." Hanai motioned over towards the benches back behind them, and he pointed to them over his shoulder. "Come sit down over here."

"Okay..." Halle followed her partner over to the bench, and they sat down next to each other. They sat and watched the sunset together in silence for a brief moment until Halle suddenly remembered something. "Um, Hanai..."

"What?" He looked over at her, wondering why she was being so hesitant. Usually she just would say whatever was on her mind and then just regret it later. "What is it?"

"Um, can I ask you a question?" She bit down on her lower lip once more, looking up at him through her bangs.

"What?" Hanai looked at her with wide eyes, not turning her request down.

"Today, when we were undercover and First Unit showed up..." She looked down at the ground, hoping she wasn't going to sound rude for asking this.

"Oh, that." Hanai smiled, looking a little relieved that it was about work. "What about it?"

"Well..." Halle ran a hand through her hair, and she looked over at her partner curiously. "Why couldn't you cuff the suspect yourself?"

Hanai fell silent, and his lips drew into a thin line at her blunt observation.

Halle tilted her head to the side a little, staring at him as she spoke. "It was like the First Unit guys just cut in and stole your arrest."

Hanai looked at the sunset, as if to avoid eye contact with her. He didn't seem like he was thinking, just watching the sunset. "It's not about who gets the credit." Hanai whispered how he really felt out loud, completely stunning Halle.

"But isn't that upsetting?" She innocently asked him, and her heart ached from his previous statement.

"It's not like I became a detective for the glory." Hanai didn't remove his eyes from the horizon, and he looked completely relaxed as he spoke. "It doesn't matter if the credit goes to me or to First Unit. What matters is closing cases. What _matters_ is protecting people and preventing crimes from happening, and catching criminals is a part of that."

Halle had shared something personal with him earlier today, and he felt obligated to share something personal with her in return. So, Hanai decided to tell her the truth. The truth about why he became a detective.

Hanai turned and looked at her finally, completely expressionless. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

The light from the sunset on his serious face took Halle's breath away for a moment, and she smiled awkwardly at him before turning her gaze to the floor. "More than you could possibly know..."

Hanai watched her reaction curiously, and he could tell there was some sort of hidden meaning behind that. Instead of prying, he crossed his arms over his broad chest and turned his gaze ahead. "I can't live with the idea of terrible things happening to innocent people."

"Well, unfortunately, bad things happen to good people all the time." Halle tore her somber gaze from the floor, and she smiled brightly at Hanai with barely noticeable tears beginning to prick at her eyes. "Myself included."

Hanai immediately looked over at her when she said that, and he could see the sadness swimming in her eyes. "Mitchell, what do you mean?"

She gently placed her hand on his arm for a brief moment and smiled. "Maybe I'll tell you someday." Halle suddenly stood up from the bench and turned her back to Hanai, beginning to walk away.

Her thoughts swam of him as she walked away, and she just didn't get this guy at all. He was so...compassionate. It was weird for Halle to see this side of him, compared to his jerky arrogant side. Hanai wasn't doing this for the prestige... He was doing it to help people. She guessed that was what made him a pro, and she could respect that.

...

"The notes you took were really useful today."

Halle froze instantly in place, and she couldn't believe what she heard. "They were?" She kept her back to him, curiously listening.

Hanai stood up from the bench and slowly started to walk over to her. "I was also suspicious of the Chemistry professor, and reading your notes erased any doubts I'd had." He put himself in front of her, looking down at his partner's face.

Halle looked so hopeful as she turned her chin up to meet his gaze, and her heart fluttered with warmth of the thought of her being useful to him. "Really...?"

"You called me when you were on your way to the lab, right?" He prodded her a little, wondering why she had called him earlier but never said anything when he picked up.

"I didn't realize..." Halle pulled out her phone and looked through her call history, and sure enough, she saw that she had in fact accidentally called him earlier.

"I figured, but I assumed something was happening, so I ran to the lab and contacted First Unit for backup." Hanai stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets, staring down at Halle as he spoke.

He figured everything out just from her notes and her not answering the phone... Wow.

Hanai suddenly smirked a little, shooting her that classic wry smile of his. "Decoding your messy handwriting was pretty hard, though."

"Messy!?" Halle immediately took offense to that, angrily knitting her eyebrows together. "There is nothing messy about my handwriting!"

He completely ignored her little quip. "Plus, you took notes on all _kinds_ of irrelevant stuff." Hanai kept going on and on, scolding his rookie partner with a look of annoyance on his face. "What was up with all of those stick figure drawings of you strangling me!?"

Halle's hands flew up to her mouth instantly to cover up her laugh, having completely forgotten about those. "Well, you _were_ the one who told me to take notes on everything, Hanai..."

"What!?" Hanai gawked at her, and he narrowed his eyes at her angrily. "I didn't tell you to write notes bad-mouthing me!"

Halle tried desperately not to laugh out loud as she recalled some of the things she wrote in her notepad about Hanai, such as, _"Hanai is such a condescending prick,"_ as well as all of her elaborate stick figure drawings of her strangling him.

Hanai held her notepad out to her with a sardonic smirk on his face. "Try to write more legibly starting tomorrow. I'll let it slide this time."

Halle bitterly smiled back at him, practically _dripping_ with sarcasm. "I'll try my best."

Hanai let out a little scoff and headed towards the door leading down from the roof. As Halle watched him begin to walk away, Kirisawa's words from earlier popped into her head.

 _"Hanai said Mitchell deserves a lot of credit for her work today."_

"He must have been talking about my notes..." Halle smiled a little to herself, staring down at her notepad, which she noticed had been thoroughly annotated by Hanai. "But what was up with that _'decoding your messy handwriting'_ comment!? What a jerk!"

Halle didn't know if he was complimenting her, or making fun of her, but she couldn't help but smile when she thought that she actually helped him out today.

Remaining hidden in the shadows of the rooftop doorway, Hanai stood there quietly as he watched his partner talk to herself. She thought he had left, but he was still there. Hanai watched as Halle pulled out her cell phone, and she sighed sharply as she checked something from it. Was she expecting a call or something?

Halle held the phone up to her ear, and she quietly cursed to herself when it went straight to voicemail again. "Sam, this is my third time calling you! Where are you? I need you to come pick me up from work today..."

Hanai widened his eyes a little as he watched her frustratingly leave a message for someone named 'Sam.' Did she not have a ride home today?

"Hey, Mitchell." Hanai called out to her, and Halle practically jumped out of her skin when she noticed he was still here. "Come on already." He turned around, preparing to leave.

"...come where?" Halle tilted her head to the side in confusion, not sure what he wanted from her.

Hanai turned around to face her, giving her a look that suggested the answer was obvious. "You need a ride home, don't you?"

* * *

 **I guess I've just really been in the writing mood these past few days. Not that you guys are complaining, though XD I'm just feeling really good about getting so much work on this book done.**

 **Hanai and Halle bonding/arguing time, slight foreshadowing, beginning to talk about the people in Halle's life some more (i.e. Sam, Brad, etc...) Things are starting to pick up! This was the ending of chapter three in the game, but it's chapter ten in my book XD Geez...**

 **Chapter eleven is going to be an original little plot twist of mine that didn't happen at all in the game, so look forward to what I have in store for you guys next!**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


	11. Chapter 11

"Thanks for doing this for me, Hanai..."

"No problem."

Halle sighed a little as she looked over at Hanai driving from where she sat in the passenger seat, and she leaned her head in her hand up against the car window. It was completely pitch black outside now, and Hanai had offered to drive Halle back home to her apartment, seeing as she couldn't drive herself.

"I called my friend Sam three times, but..." Halle trailed off, feeling guilty about accepting Hanai's kind offer to drive her home. She wasn't very big on letting people do things for her. "...well, she didn't answer for whatever reason. It's probably something ridiculous, I just know it." She rolled her eyes and shook her head a little, and Hanai just laughed.

"She sounds reliable." Hanai wore a sardonic smirk, shooting her a sideways glance.

Halle rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Well, I'm really not the type to ask for favors, so she wouldn't be expecting a sudden call from me, but she's the only one I could have asked." She looked over at Hanai with an expressionless look on her face. "She lives in the apartment next door to me, so it would have been convenient for her to come pick me up."

"Ah." Hanai nodded his head, keeping his eyes firmly on the road. "Is that a coincidence, or...?"

"Oh, no. It's not." Her mood immediately seemed to be brightened by this conversation topic. "We purposely moved into apartments next to each other after high school." Halle chuckled a little at the memory, covering her mouth with her hand. "We've been best friends since we were thirteen."

Hanai was about to make some sort of snarky comment about someone as ridiculous as her being able to keep a friend that long, but Halle's phone started to ring.

"Oh, I'm sorry..." Halle pulled her phone out of her pocket, and her eyebrows shot up into her hairline when she saw who was calling her. "Oh, this is her now. Just one moment." She nodded her head to Hanai before answering her phone, holding it close to her ear. "Sam? Hey... Sorry. You just got my messages? Oh, no, it's alright... I promise I'm fine, really. The guys are just being overly cautious in not letting me drive home. It's fine, I'll just catch a ride to work with you in the morning, and I'll drive myself home tomorrow. No, no, you don't need to come get me now." Halle paused her conversation with her frantic best friend completely freaking out in high-pitch babbles on the other end of the line, and she looked over at Hanai. "My partner is driving me home. I should be there in five minutes. Yeah. Oh, really? Are you sure? You don't have to...okay. I appreciate it. You have a key to my place, right? That sounds great. I'll see you soon."

Hanai glanced over at Halle briefly as she hung up the phone with a sigh, and she looked more stressed out than relieved now that her friend called her. "Is something wrong?"

Halle's eyes snapped open wide, and she turned to look at Hanai in surprise. "What? Oh, no, not really. I'm just dreading how she's going to react when I get home in a minute..." She seemed to wince a little just at the thought, which made Hanai chuckle a little. "She's let herself in and is determined to take care of me tonight. She's even making me tea and cookies."

Hanai quirked an eyebrow at this with a tiny smile. "That sounds very British of her."

"She _is_ British." Halle pulled the corner of her lips into a little smile, shaking her head. She then recognized the familiarity of her surroundings, and she called Hanai's attention to it with the snap of her fingers. "Oh, it's right here on your left. Stop the car."

* * *

There was nothing Halle could have said or done that would have properly prepared Hanai for the rather... _extravagant_ personality her best friend Sam possessed. Nothing at all.

"HALLE!"

As soon as Halle and Hanai set foot out of the elevator they took to the third floor of her apartment complex, Halle's ears were immediately deafened by the familiar, booming voice of her closest friend.

...who promptly came running _at_ her at full force from across the hallway.

"Sam, wait! Stop...! OOF!"

"Halle, love, I was so _terribly_ worried! Don't you ever do that to me again!"

Hanai's eyes widened in shock as he watched a fully-grown blonde woman come tearing down the hallway and abruptly tackle his partner into a big hug. He figured this woman must be the rumored "Sam" Halle had briefly mentioned, and he snickered a little at the look of vast discomfort on his partner's face.

"Sam, please...let me...go!" Halle coughed a little, out of breath as she attempted to pry Sam's arms off of her neck.

Sam widened her eyes in horror, realizing that Halle's face was starting to turn blue. "Shit, I'm sorry! Oh. Pardon my French." She apologized profusely with her thick, unmistakable British accent, pulling back from Halle and releasing her from her vice grip.

Sam was a tall, curvatious woman who stood at a height of five feet and eight inches, just an inch taller than Halle when she was wearing her high heels. She had long, dirty-blonde hair that came down to her waist in a huge cascade of natural curls, and her bangs were grown out and swept to the side. She wasn't quite as pale as Halle, but she was only just the slightest bit more tan. All in all, this woman stood out like a sore thumb in Japan, especially since she was uncommonly pretty.

But of course, it wasn't really her looks that stood out the most.

"Bloody hell..." Sam pulled back and held Halle's face delicately in her hands, staring at her intensely. "What happened to you? You look like total _shit!"_

Halle's eyes narrowed when Hanai started to laugh at Sam's blunt remark, and she just glared ahead at her best friend. "Thanks." She sighed bitterly and rose her hand to her forehead, shutting her eyes lightly. "A suspect smashed a glass beaker over my head during an arrest, so I needed to get a ride home today." Halle rose her hand to her forehead, lightly rubbing it. "I don't really think I have a concussion, so I just need to sleep it off..."

Sam looked worried for a moment before her eyes suddenly landed on Hanai, which immediately widened to match the flirtatious grin on her face. "Oh? Now who's the handsome bloke you've got here?" She leaned up against the wall and winked at Hanai, who looked a little disturbed by the sudden shift in Sam's personality.

Halle paused for a moment as if to figure out what her friend was even talking about, and as soon as she followed Sam's gaze to Hanai standing right behind her, she rolled her eyes and gave Sam a big shove. "Oh, don't you even start." Halle firmly reprimanded her best friend who was _renowned_ for being a flirt, raising an eyebrow at her suspiciously. "This is my partner I was telling you about on the phone, Kazusa Hanai." She held out her hand in front of Hanai, drawing Sam's attention to him.

"Your partner?" Sam stared at Halle questionably with a huge grin on her face. She crossed her arms over her chest, looking Hanai up and down. "Is that so?"

Halle seemed to tense up a little, not liking Sam's suspicious tone one bit. "Yes, my _partner_. As in my partner from _work_."

"Well." Sam looked Hanai up and down in approval. "If all the cops in your new unit look like this, then I should change my profession!" She let out a hearty laugh, which only made Halle roll her eyes.

"Oh shut _up."_ Halle punched Sam in the shoulder, which immediately caused the blonde to yelp out in pain. Halle turned to her partner with an annoyed look on her face and rested her hand on his arm, drawing his attention to her. "Hanai, this is my best friend Sam."

"Nice to meet you." Hanai smiled and extended his hand casually, shaking Sam's in a polite greeting. "I'm Kazusa Hanai, Mitchell's partner from Second Unit."

 _"Mitchell?"_ Sam's eyes grew wide, and she nearly doubled over in shock. "Oh, how formal!" She chuckled adorably, and she turned to look at Halle. "Love, why don't you just have him call you Halle? He seems so nice!"

Halle covered her face with her hands in attempt to cover the blush sneaking up onto her cheeks. "No, that's really not necessary. He can call me whatever he wants..."

Hanai smirked a little as he looked over at Halle, amused at getting this opportunity to tease his partner. He thought Sam was... _interesting_. She wasn't annoying, just, er, _eccentric_. And besides, he could possibly learn more about his partner just by meeting her best friend. Just when he thought he knew everything about Halle, the plot thickened, and being a professional profiler such as himself, he couldn't let this mystery go unsolved.

Halle was twenty four and lived in an apartment next door to her best friend. He remembered that she told him once that her parents thought she was a disappointment, and they didn't want her to be a detective, which he found a little hard to believe. Her, a disappointment? ...nah. She might be a spacey, slightly annoying, chatty rookie, but she was tougher than she looked. He didn't doubt that after a few months as his partner in Second Unit that she'd shape up to be a great detective.

Hanai was suddenly pulled from his thoughts as the chatter between the two women caught his attention again, and he rose a suspicious eyebrow at Sam, who had a sheepish look on her face.

"I'm terribly sorry that I didn't answer the phone, love!" Sam suddenly enveloped Halle in a bone-crushing hug once more, making sure not to choke her this time. "You never ask for favors, and that just makes me feel that much more awful!"

Halle rolled her eyes a little, struggling to pull herself from Sam's vice grip. "Oh yeah, that reminds me..." Her thoughts traced around in a circle until they found themselves at the front of her mind, and Halle posed her question. "Why didn't you answer the phone earlier? I called you three _times_..."

Sam had an extremely apologetic, nervous look on her face. "Oh, you see, I just got so caught up in grading my students' papers..."

Halle crossed her arms, raising as eyebrow at Sam. "No, what's the _real_ reason?"

Sam paused for a moment after being cut off mid-sentence, and she flattened her lips into a thin line. "...I was rocking out to Madonna while trying to teach myself to wall twerk."

...

Halle pressed her hand against her forehead, stunned into silence by Sam's honest excuse. "I...don't even know how to properly respond to that."

Halle had no doubt in her mind that this _was_ what the fourth grade teacher was doing while she was at work today, given just how strange and ridiculous the excuse was. It sounded exactly like something Sam would do, honestly.

Hanai joined in on staring at Sam in bewilderment, completely speechless. He stood next to Halle in utter amazement with an awkward look on his face as well.

"...well don't just stand there looking at me completely _gobsmacked."_ Sam uncomfortably ran a hand through her curly blonde hair, glancing at the two people giving her weird looks. "You know, love, you look _awfully_ pale..." Sam got what would be considered _uncomfortably_ close to Halle's face, staring at her curiously in attempt to get the spotlight off of her. "Are you sure you're not anemic right now or something?"

Halle's eye twitched in annoyance as she pulled herself from Sam's grip, and she smirked bitterly. "I'm pretty sure that's just my skin tone you're seeing..."

"If you say so..." Sam shrugged her shoulders, pulling back from Halle and crossing her arms over her chest.

Halle just scoffed, shooting a sardonic glare in Sam's direction. "Well you don't have to be such a jerk about it!"

Hanai's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion, and he nudged his partner's side with his elbow. "Don't you think you're overreacting just a little?"

"Overreacting?" Halle turned to Hanai immediately, shooting him a questioning stare. "No, I'm not! What she said essentially translates to, ' _I'm afraid that what you're saying is the height of idiocy.'"_

Sam just busted out laughing, and she completely agreed. "That's true."

"...what?" Hanai was confused for perhaps for the first time in his life, not following this at all, strangely enough.

"Exactly." Halle crossed her arms over her chest, starting to feel the tiredness from today catch up to her. "Understanding Sam's speech mannerisms is just like beer. It's an acquired taste."

"An acquired taste?" Hanai chuckled a little, looking at Halle curiously.

Sam rolled her eyes a little. "Right then, we should probably get you inside." She took this moment to end the conversation, and she wrapped an arm around Halle's back supportively and turned her around to go. "Come on, Halle."

"O-oh, wait..." Halle stopped in her tracks and turned around back to Hanai, and she smiled gently. "Hanai, thanks again for taking me home. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"See you." Hanai smiled and waved slightly before turning around, and he strode away and left looking as cool as he did when walked in.

Sam watched Hanai walk away with a lustful look of desire in her eyes, shamelessly staring at his ass. "Yowza!"

Halle immediately punched Sam in the arm and then started to drag her over to her apartment door. "Stop. He's my partner. Part- _ner!"_

"Oh, you're no fun at all!"

* * *

Halle _loved_ the fact that her whole apartment now smelled like English Breakfast tea and freshly baked sugar cookies. This scent was the one thing that reminded Halle of her childhood the most, given she was always over at Sam's house for tea. This is what they always served, inevitably getting Halle addicted to the stuff.

Samantha Abbott Acker and her family moved to Japan from England when she was only thirteen, and shortly right after that, she met the troublesome heiress Halle Mitchell. They met and befriended each other under rather _unusual_ circumstances, but the two became very close, long lasting friends shortly after that. Naturally, they always hung out at Sam's house since it was their little 'safe haven,' and also because Halle loved Mrs. Acker's enjoyable British culture, such as her fantastic taste in tea. Halle grew up drinking the stuff, and that was why she never became accustomed to drinking coffee like all of the other guys from Second Unit.

"Here you go, love." Sam popped around Halle from behind the couch, handing her a cup of tea. "There's a ridiculous amount of sugar in it, too."

"It's not ridiculous..." Halle pouted a little as she slowly lifted the warm cup to her lips, and a look of bliss crossed her face. "I just like it to be sweet. Ah, this is good..."

Sam was about to comment on that when a low beeping noise rang through the room, calling the blonde's attention to the kitchen. "Fantastic, those finished up just in time... Be right back, I'm about to pop into the kitchen." Sam absentmindedly thought out loud to herself as she crossed the living room into the kitchen, making her way towards the oven.

Halle slumped down comfortably into her lovely beige couch, pulling her teacup up to her lips. She softly closed her eyes and allowed herself to relax, hoping and _wishing_ silently that Sam was going to let her off the hook for what happened tonight and not tease her about it.

...

"So, that Hanai guy was really cute."

Nope. She wasn't going to let Halle get away with this at all.

Halle just sighed sharply, and she turned around on the couch on her knees and looked over at Sam in the kitchen. "Maybe so, but you wouldn't be saying that if you knew what a jerk he really was."

Sam grinned wryly as she pointed a wooden kitchen spoon at her friend, looking at her from across the room. "Ah, so you admit that you _do_ think the bloke is cute!"

Halle's face erupted into a look of surprise, a little caught off guard by Sam's accusation. However, that look of surprise quickly melted into a snappy glare. "That's irrelevant," she deadpanned, pouting like a child as she crossed her arms angrily.

"Irrelevant!?" Sam laughed good and hard at Halle's instant denial, enjoying seeing this side of her friend for a change. "Come _on_ , love! He's cute, smart, considerate, cool, and you work together, so you would get to see him all the time!" Sam paused briefly to shoot Halle an honest glance. "Can you honestly tell me you haven't thought about dating this guy?"

Halle bit back on her lip and plopped back down on the couch, turning her back to Sam. "No, of course I haven't. That would be an inappropriate office relationship."

"Oh, come on! You're no fun at all!" Sam chuckled a little in frustration, throwing her spoon down on the kitchen island. _"'Inappropriate office relationship?'_ Don't be such a daft _cow!"_

Halle jumped back up from the couch immediately and turned to look at Sam with her jaw on the floor. "Daft _cow!?"_

"Yes, I said you're a daft cow!" Sam smirked wryly, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. "I cannot _believe_ you don't even have the slightest amount of feelings for this guy."

"Why should I have feelings for _him?"_ Halle scoffed, and her face fell into a bitter expression as her teeth naturally gritted together. "He's cocky, arrogant, good at everything... He's also a big jerk who picks on me nonstop!"

Sam rose an eyebrow out of curiosity, and she shrugged her shoulders before turning back to the cookie sheet she had laying out on the counter. "Sounds like a fun relationship to me."

Halle just gawked at her, completely stunned. "Fun? You call that _fun_...?" She couldn't even process Sam's opinion, not having a clue how she could come to _that_ conclusion. "How in the world could that be classified as a fun relationship!?"

"Well, think of it this way, love." Sam set down the plate of freshly-baked cookies on the coffee table, joining Halle in the living room. "If you were in a relationship with a guy who was kind, sweet, and gentle all of the time, wouldn't you get a little...I don't know, bored?"

Halle was stunned into silence as she stared at Sam owlishly, having not even considered that perspective. "I..."

Sam chortled at the look on Halle's face, and she bit down onto one of the sugar cookies as she leaned back comfortably into the couch. "I'm telling you, love, you should go for it. I think you're just using this _'we work together'_ thing as an excuse not to like this guy."

"He's my _partner_ , Sam." Halle stared at her with an unbelievably serious expression. "And besides, I don't like him like that. Honestly, you can have him yourself."

Sam stared at her best friend in _bewildered_ amusement, and she drew her head back a little cautiously. "Are you sure? Because frankly, I don't think so."

"No, Sam." Halle instantly shot down her curiosity, knowing _exactly_ where this was going. "I don't want or _need_ a boyfriend right now."

Sam sighed in disappointment, and she internally kicked herself for what she was about to ask. "Love, is this about Ellie?"

 _"Ellie?"_ Halle looked up from her phone, and her eyes immediately snapped open at the mention of the Ellie's name. "What? No, of course not. Why _would_ it be?"

Sam bravely stood up and gave Halle a questioning glare. "Because you _always_ use Ellie as an excuse not to date."

Halle scoffed in denial, turning her chin up to the ceiling. "What? I do not!"

"Yes you do!" Sam rolled her eyes, feeling a little frustrated. As soon as her eyes landed on Halle periodically checking her phone for any text messages again, she snapped her fingers and pointed to her. "You always use Ellie as an excuse not to do anything fun. And look! I bet you're checking to see if she texted you right now!"

Halle's face paled a little at Sam's dead-on accusation, and she quickly locked her phone and placed it onto her lap. "Fun? More like reckless, if you ask me." Her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at Sam, and she tried to make her annoyance with the blonde ebb away. "And once you're in a situation like mine some day, Sam, then you'll understand. But for now...you have no right to judge me for how I decide to live my life."

Sam pouted a little, knowing Halle was fully right but also wrong at the same time. It was true, Sam had no right to comment on what Halle did with her life, but still... She was just a girl who was worried about her best friend, especially since that best friend had several burdening responsibilities that normal twenty-four-year-olds didn't have. Halle's social life, or lack there of, suffered from it, and Sam was worried.

Halle opened her mouth to apologize to Sam for sounding a little irritable, but before she could say anything, her house phone began to ring, and she quickly crossed the room to pick it up. "Hello? Oh, Brad! Hi!"

Sam rolled her eyes a little at the look of pure joy and happiness on Halle's face as she talked to her brother on the phone, and the blonde crossed her arms a little over her chest. "Saved by the bell... Lucky twat. We're still going to talk about this later, I hope you know!"

Halle rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at Sam, and she continued conversing with her older brother on the phone. "Wait, what's wrong? Change of plans...WHAT!? Brad! You're leaving a month _early...?"_ Halle's shoulders slumped in disappointment, and she rested her back up against the wall. "But you just got back... Aww. Alright, I'll take care of it. No worries. Bye, Brad. I'll talk to you later. Love you too."

Sam quirked an eyebrow at the look of sheer disappointment on Halle's face, and she had a pretty good feeling as to what was the cause of it. "Brad leaving a month early for that business trip in America?"

Halle stuck out her bottom lip to pout, and she nodded her head. "Yeah, he is. He was just hoping I wouldn't mind this getting pushed back a month earlier than expected..."

Sam nodded her head decisively. "When does he fly out?"

"Thursday." Halle walked over to her fridge in the kitchen and circled that day on the calendar, which was only two days away.

"Guess we should start getting prepared then?" Sam grabbed her coat and car keys off of the hook at the door, and she nodded her head in the direction of the apartment's front door. "Come on, love. I'll drive you to the store."

* * *

 **So this was my first completely original chapter in this book so far. What did you guys think...? I'll be doing things like this more often to build up on Halle's character, so look forward to it! XD**

 **Isn't Sam great? Come on, you know you guys love her already XD she'll be making several appearances after this, no worries. She's not a one-hit wonder supporting character. And trust me, she only gets more ridiculous XDDDDDDDD**

 **And who's Ellie? Her name's been dropped a few times already, but before this chapter it was always so subtle it was hardly noticeable.**

 **Also, what exactly _are_ Sam and Halle prepping for?**

 **Is your curiosity killing you? Then wait in eager anticipation for the next chapter to come out! :D**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


	12. Chapter 12

"Come on... Seriously?"

...

"Work, damn it!"

...

"UGH!"

Halle slammed her head on the wall in comprehension, thoroughly frustrated as she waited for the elevator that seemed like it would _never_ come. She had been standing here in the MPD's lobby for a good five minutes waiting for this elevator, and she was starting to wonder if it got stalled or something.

She had to escape before it was too late! Come on, elevator... Come on!

"Mitchell!"

...damn it. Busted.

Halle cringed at the sound of that familiar voice, and she was already dreading this conversation as she began to turn around. She felt a little awkward about seeing Hanai this morning after her conversation about him last night with Sam, which only resulted in tensing up her nerves and making her painfully aware of the fact that they were of the opposite gender, which made her feel a little embarrassed about some of the partner-y things they had already done, like him paying for her lunch that one time, and drinking after her...

Yeah, like she really needed to be _more_ jumpy and awkward around Hanai now...

As she turned around, Halle instantly spotted her partner hurriedly waving her over to him, and she sighed a little as she found herself obediently walking over to him like a well-behaved dog.

"Quick! We've got a case!" Hanai seemed a little annoyed about her just standing there, and he was impatiently ushering her to follow.

"Well, yeah..." Halle slowly looked behind her at the elevator, fully aware that she was going to be late for Second Unit's debrief at this rate. "But the elevator..."

Hanai seemed to not care about that at all as he snapped at her. "Use the stairs!"

"...what!?" Halle stared at her partner in shock, unsure if she heard that right.

"Yeah, run!" Hanai grabbed her arm and quickly dashed for the staircase, pulling Halle right along with him.

"...to the seventh _floor!?"_

* * *

Ten long, drawn out, dreary, _unbearable_ minutes of climbing endless stairs later...

"I think I'm going to die..." Halle hoarsely tried to catch her breath, sluggishly trudging up the last flight of stairs.

"Quiet! We've got to hurry!" Hanai immediately silenced her with a sharp glare, turning to look at her briefly.

"Sorry!" Halle squeaked nervously, trying to hide her discomfort around Hanai as best as she possibly could.

When they finally arrived out of breath in the Special Investigations office, the other members of first and Second Unit were already there. Everyone seemed to be gathered around for one big debrief meeting of the two units, which didn't happen very often, if at all.

"I'm sorry we're late." Hanai apologized to the crowd without a trace of emotion, looking completely expressionless as usual.

"Sorry for being late..." Halle followed suit and apologized as well, feeling a little more skittish than usual.

"Okay, everyone's here." Kirisawa nodded to both Hanai and Halle, as if accepting their apologies without question. "Let's start."

One of the First Unit detectives seemed a little disgusted with Hanai and Halle's tardiness, and he rolled his eyes. "Jesus, don't you second unit guys own watches?" He bit back some sort of remark briefly before turning back to the case. "Anyway, onto the case briefing..." He turned around and pointed to the large whiteboard in the main office that had several documents and photos stuck to it, as well as notes scribbled all over it. "Last night, a little after eleven, a man was stabbed in the back on a street in Shinjuku. He's currently in critical condition, and no suspects have been apprehended. He was stabbed with a 16cm-long knife, and the weapon has not been found. The victim is a twenty-six-year-old doctor named Jun Matsudaira."

Halle was listening to the debrief intently, but her intense focus was suddenly broken when she noticed the look on her partner's face.

"Hanai...?" Halle turned a little and put herself in front of Hanai, looking up at him worriedly. "Are you okay?"

Hanai was completely shell-shocked as the name of the victim was given, and he looked like he needed to sit down, given that he was as white as a sheet. "Jun...Matsudaira?"

"Hey, I was in the middle of saying something!" The detective bitterly barked at Hanai, completely pissed off by his "rude" interruption.

"He's a friend of mine." Hanai's lips flattened into a thin line, and his gaze seemed to harden into a fixed, cold stare. "I've known him since high school."

Halle's eyes snapped open in shock. "Oh my god..." Her hands slowly reached up to cover her mouth, and she felt as if the pit of her stomach just grew extremely heavy. "Hanai, are you alright?"

The First Unit detective giving the debrief completely ignored Hanai's emotionless face and conversation with his partner, and he continued giving the debrief. "The victim caught a glimpse of the perpetrator's face, but didn't recognize him. The perp is in their late teens or early twenties, and the perp's gender has not been identified."

A different detective from First Unit looked a little nervous as he twiddled his thumbs. "We...actually received a letter preceding the stabbing."

"A letter?" Hanai seemed to be alive again as his eyes widened exponentially.

"This." The detective crossed the room and handed the letter to Hanai, which read, _"someone will be murdered in Shinjuku in the next two days."_

Hanai grew angry as he read over this, and he glared at the incompetent First Unit detective. "If you had a death threat, why didn't you stop this from happening!?"

"...are you a moron or something?" The detective stared blankly at Hanai, scrutinizing his response. "How were we supposed to prevent the stabbing with this little info!? We didn't even know if the note was real. It could've easily just been a prank."

"So you couldn't do anything..." Hanai stared at the detective in shock, but he quickly grew tense and angry again. "...or rather, you _refused_ to do anything!"

The detective seemed to be more on his guard now that he had received Hanai's obvious attitude. "Do you know how many threats like this we get? And how many of them are pranks? We don't have the time to look into each and every one!"

Hanai clenched his hands into tight fists in response. He looked like he was trying to keep himself from saying more, and Halle saw that clearly.

A lot of what the First Unit detective said was true. It could have been a prank, and even if they knew it was a real threat, there really wasn't enough information to go on to prevent this. Shinjuku was a rather large area, after all... And, they didn't know the time, exact place, _or_ the victim. This was unfortunately _unpreventable_.

"Additionally..." A First Unit detective butted in to the debrief, holding up another piece of paper. "We've received a second death threat. This."

Halle's face paled as she read the words, _"someone will be murdered in Roppongi in the next twenty-four hours. I'll kill them this time."_

"It's from the same person." Hanai's glare hardened as he looked over the letter, analyzing it thoroughly.

"Sounds like he's for real this time." Tennoji looked uncharacteristically serious, and even a little concerned. The expressionless look on his face matched everyone else's in the room, and to Halle it was more than just a little unsettling.

"Before, it was within two days..." Asano hardened his stare, looking over the letter. "...and now it's within twenty-four _hours."_

Kyobashi leaned up against the wall with an unapproachable aura radiating from him, lost in his own angry thoughts. "He's purposely choosing areas with lots of people to make finding him difficult."

Yachigusa nodded in agreement, just as visibly upset about this as everyone else. "He's challenging us to find him."

Halle looked completely dead serious as she clenched her fists in anger, fiercely determined to stop this. "We _have_ to prevent this murder."

"Hanai." Kirisawa's expression grew stone-cold as he looked over at the criminal profiler. "Any ideas on the perp's profile based on these letters?"

"He seems like an amateur killer, not a professional..." Hanai looked down at the floor with a sullen look on his face, and Halle's chest grew tight with discomfort as she shared his pain for a brief moment. "The way he included _, 'I'll kill them this time,'_ makes it sound like he lost his nerve last night." That depressed look on his face never left, and Hanai kept his gaze on the floor.

"An amateur..." Asano breathed out his thoughts, joining Hanai in depressingly staring at the floor.

One of the First Unit detectives jumped back into the conversation, having something to add. "We want Second Unit to help us out by interviewing possible witnesses in Shinjuku, and searching for this guy on the streets of Roppongi."

"Alright." Kirisawa nodded his head firmly, determined to accept and deliver these orders. "Hanai and Mitchell, you're headed to Roppongi. Everybody else will be canvassing Shinjuku." He gave his orders to his men (and...er, one woman?) and quickly turned back to look at the First Unit detective. "We'll try to get you a description of the perp."

"Yes, sir." All of the detectives from Second Unit nodded in understanding, and they all left the room at once, ready to follow through with their orders.

As they stepped through the doorway, Kirisawa reached out and stopped Hanai by grabbing his shoulder. "Hanai."

"Yes?" Hanai looked like he was back to his old self as he turned to look at his boss, a hint of curiosity flickering across his face.

"I'm sorry about your friend." Kirisawa looked remorseful as he gave Hanai a hard slap on the back. "I'll make sure we catch this guy."

Hanai sighed a little. "It's okay. I know." He replied as coolly and calmly as ever, seemingly unfazed as he turned to his partner and forcibly barked orders to her. "Mitchell, let's go!"

"O-okay!" Halle jumped a little, startled by him suddenly calling on her.

And thus, the young woman chased after her partner, both having it set in their minds to get to Roppongi, and _fast_...

But unfortunately for them, they didn't know it was already too late.

* * *

 **DUHN DUHN DUHN!**

 **Finally, the main case in this plot has started: the stabbing case! I've been DYING to get to this part in my story XD this is only chapter 4 in the game, but it's 12 in my book... Phew. See? I called it. This was gonna be a long one.**

 **Okay, guys! Are you ready for the action to REALLY start to pick up? I'm so excited! I'm so pumped that I'm gonna go start writing chapter 13 right now!**

 **Read, review, and enjoy! ;)**


	13. Chapter 13

It wasn't even noon yet, and the streets of Roppongi were crowded with cars and people. Businesspeople and tourists crowded the plaza, pushing and shoving each other in a rush to get to their destination. The sun was high up in the clear-blue sky, and there wasn't a single cloud in sight. Halle loved the weather that springtime like this brought, although she couldn't really enjoy it now, given that she was in a rather morose situation. They were surveiling Roppongi in attempt to prevent the next stabbing, which could possibly end in _murder_ this time.

"We need to get some information on what this guy could look like." Hanai put in a wireless ear bud that connected to a radio, and he handed one to Halle for her to use as well.

Halle exhaled sharply, already feeling a little overwhelmed as she put in her ear bud. "Okay, let's do our best."

With this many people around, they really couldn't guess at all who would be targeted. Plus, an amateur would be a lot harder to pick out from the crowd than a pro. Honestly, their chances were _not_ good.

Regardless of that, Hanai and Halle continued to patrol the area together; they weren't about to give up hope so easily. They walked on the sidewalks and crossed the streets, merging with the crowds as best as they could.

After about five minutes of walking around, a message came through on the radios. _"We've gotten some eyewitness info on the perp in Shinjuku."_

Hanai immediately perked up at the sound of a First Unit detective's voice over the radio. "What does he look like?"

 _"The witness saw someone running while clutching a blood-smeared bag to his chest."_

Hanai's gaze hardened as he stared directly ahead. "So he used the bag to conceal the knife and stabbed the victim with the knife still in the bag?"

 _"Yes, and we still don't know the perp's gender. All we got was he was wearing a hoodie and jeans."_

"Roger that." Hanai nodded his head sharply, and he turned to look at his partner beside him, who had heard everything he just had. "Keep bringing that info in," Hanai requested briefly before the transmission ended. Once it did, he shared a thought he had with Halle. "There's a high chance that the perp will use a plastic or paper bag again."

Halle frowned a little as her suspicions were confirmed. "That's just what I was thinking..."

Hanai grew serious and focused once more as he turned his attention back to the swarming crowds of people, determined to find the perp even more now. "Keep an eye out for anyone carrying a bag under their arm."

"Got it." Halle nodded her head obediently.

Before the two detectives knew it, it was lunch time. There were more and more people starting to carry paper bags from fast food places, and it made it harder for Hanai and Halle to find the perp. Narrowing down the pool of suspects was nearly impossible now.

"Ow!"

"Sorry."

Halle freaked out a little inside whenever she saw two people bump into each other, and her nerves were completely shot. It could literally be _anyone..._

 _"An incident has been reported in Roppongi!"_ The radio suddenly came back on sharply, causing the two detectives to nearly jump out of their skin.

"What!?" Hanai's jaw fell open in shock, unable to believe this.

Halle's eyes widened in complete horror as she clutched onto the rolled-up sleeves of her white blouse. "No way..."

The two of them stopped, waiting for more information to come through over the radio, and they surveyed the street. They suddenly heard the siren of a faraway ambulance, and the radio came back on.

 _"A man was stabbed on the street in Roppongi. An ambulance is on its way."_

"And the perp?" Hanai prodded the First Unit detective on the radio, looking completely stressed out, frustrated, and angry at his failure to prevent the second stabbing.

 _"Gender unknown, age twenty to thirty years old. The perp was wearing a black coat and carrying a bag under his arm. He forcibly bumped into a passerby and stabbed him."_ The radio suddenly cut out there, ending the transmission.

* * *

Everyone returned one by one to the MPD after Hanai and Halle got back to Second Unit. They all shared the same grim expression.

"Well, he got us." Kyobashi downcast his depressed gaze as he pushed his thin-framed glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "He said within twenty-four hours, but he was finished in less than _five."_

Yachigusa clenched his fists out of frustration. "There's no way we could've prevented anything within that short time frame..."

Tennoji looked almost a little terrifying from the intense anger that was swimming in his eyes. "That psycho's messing with us."

"We're definitely being toyed with." Asano's head fell in his hand, and he slumped in his position at his desk.

One of the First Unit detectives entered the room, and he started to write the case details on the large whiteboard again.

Hanai watched as the detective wrote the victim's name on the board, and he paled in horror. "The victim was Yugo Horikawa?"

"Yeah, like the board says." The First Unit detective rolled his eyes at Hanai's stupid question. "He's twenty six and works in finance."

"...what?" Hanai seemed to be lost in his own little world as he downcast his unreadable expression to the floor.

"Hanai, what's wrong?" Kirisawa prodded him cautiously, raising a curious eyebrow at his detective.

Halle's eyes snapped wide open, and she placed her hand on Hanai's arm. "Hanai, don't tell me..."

Hanai didn't let her finish as he rose his head back up to meet her gaze with his firm, cold one. "Horikawa is a friend of mine."

"What?" Another First Unit detective spit out his coffee, completely thrown off by this. " _Another_ friend of yours...?"

"Why...?" Hanai looked down at the ground again as he talked to himself, trying to work out the case in his head as he tuned out everyone else. "What is this about?"

"So this psycho has a grudge or somethin'?" Tennoji spoke openly, not really thinking about what he was saying.

Hanai shot a cold glare in Tennoji's direction. "There's no way!" He defended his friend's likability, knowing Horikawa didn't have a single enemy in the world. "He's not that kind of guy!"

"I was just askin'!" Tennoji got defensive as he rose his voice, and he stood up right in front of Hanai as he matched the brunette's glare. "What're you blowing up on me for!?"

Their progressing argument was interrupted briefly by the sound of the door clicking, and someone pushed it open. Halle stared at the person who entered the room in shock, recognizing him immediately as Tennoji and Hanai continued to argue behind her.

The man at the door was Nomura: the nice man that had told Halle about her transfer to Second Unit a few weeks ago. Halle shot him an awkward smile and a slight wave, and Yachigusa noticed Nomura's presence right after she did that.

"Oh, Nomura..." Yachigusa was surprised to see him here, and his mouth fell open slightly as he stared at him.

 _"Why is he here...?"_ Halle wondered to herself, not really understanding what was going on at all at this point.

Nomura's mouth fell open slightly as his eyes quickly found themselves transfixed on the arguing Hanai and Tennoji. "I see you guys are getting into it again..."

Kirisawa tensed up now that this was happening in Nomura's presence, and he furrowed his brow and barked at the two detectives sharply. "Hanai, Tennoji, stop!"

The two detectives froze at their boss's command, and Nomura let out a shallow breath awkwardly. "I could hear you all the way down the hall."

Hanai and Tennoji had been glaring at each other, but they both broke it off and looked away. Nomura let out a little chuckle and closed the door to the Special Investigations office.

Hanai looked glum as he rose his gaze to look at one of the First Unit detectives giving the debrief. "What's Horikawa's condition...?"

The detective shot Hanai an awkward, fleeting glance as he delivered this news. "His life is not in danger, but he was stabbed in the stomach. It's pretty serious."

Halle couldn't even describe how awful it was so see the earth-shattering, depressed expression on Hanai's face, but the silence was broken quickly by Kirisawa slapping Hanai comfortingly on the shoulder. "Hanai, I thought it was a coincidence at first, but for _two_ of your friends to be attacked..."

Hanai relaxed his lips as he shut his mouth, and his gaze remained downturned to the floor. He was just too drawn within himself to form a proper response.

Kirisawa adjusted his grip on the cigarette in his mouth as his demeanor suddenly intensified. "What connects the two victims?"

"Just that they went to the same high school." Hanai shrugged a little, not changing his posture or expression at all.

Halle frowned a little, trying to think of a way to be useful. "Were they in any of the same clubs?" This question popped into her mind as she thought of her _own_ club in high school that she had been the president of.

"No." Hanai stared at her firmly as he shook his head. "They were in different after-school clubs."

"Had those two seen each other recently?" Kirisawa prodded Hanai carefully, trying to get to the bottom of this.

Hanai thought it over for a moment before something suddenly came to mind. "The three of us went out for drinks at a bar in Roppongi a while back. They've since met up there without me too."

"Is that all they have in common...?" Tennoji sighed a little, disappointed with this lack of leads.

"Yeah." Hanai jammed his hands into his jacket pockets. "I haven't gone anywhere else with them recently."

"Okay, got it." Kirisawa nodded his head as he started to form a plan of action. "Hanai, Mitchell, go check out that bar."

Hanai and Halle exchanged glances at Kirisawa's order, and the two simultaneously nodded to each other in understanding as they quickly began making a plan of their own.

* * *

They waited for evening to fall before they headed out for Hanai's preferred bar, where he had met up with the two victims recently. Hanai and Halle stepped out of Hanai's car after parking out front, dressed in their usual work clothes as they began to approach the door to the pub.

Hanai stopped before opening the door, and he looked over at his partner as calm and cool as ever. "We should pretend to be a couple to avoid attracting attention."

Halle's pupils became largely dilated as she stared at Hanai in complete bewilderment. "...WHAT!?" She reached up and grabbed at her hair as a force of habit, pulling at it stressfully.

"Don't get the wrong idea." Hanai immediately glared at her, hardening his expression as he spoke. "I just don't want to blow our cover."

"Got it..." Halle's shoulders involuntarily slumped, and she felt her stomach doing flip-flops just _thinking_ about this.

"Pfft." Hanai scoffed a little at the look on her face, finding it very amusing. "It's not like we're going to do anything weird. Just try to act couple-y."

Halle's face gently flushed red as she tried to remember the last time she was even _in_ a relationship. "Understood."

"Let's go." Hanai ushered her towards the door, holding it open for her.

Halle put one foot forward and bravely walked into the bar, and she was immediately blown away by the interior. It was quiet and sophisticated, decorated with a deep, crimson color-scheme. It was located a million miles away from the bright lights and loud music that she would typically associate with Roppongi, and it was just very...relaxing. So, this was the kind of place where Hanai hung out...

Halle instantly noticed that Hanai seemed to know the bartender and waitresses, and he nodded to them respectfully as they entered. The people who worked there looked confused when they noticed Halle accompanying him, but Hanai didn't seem to worry about it. There were empty seats at the corner of the bar, and an empty table in the back, and Halle was wondering where it would be best for them to sit.

Just as Halle was about to open her mouth and suggest to Hanai that they should sit at the bar, Hanai beat her to the punch and spoke up quickly. "Let's sit at the bar." He brought his mouth to her ear, whispering to her quietly in order to avoid looking suspicious. "It'll give us a better view of the place."

"Okay..." Halle's whole face flushed red at how close his face was to hers, and all she could do was nod vigorously and follow him to go sit down at the bar.

Before he let her sit down, Hanai gestured to one of the bar stools they stood in front of. "Here, you sit in the seat farthest away from the door."

"Oh...okay." Halle was caught off guard by his sudden kindness, not even realizing he had it in him to be a proper gentleman. She learned new things about her partner every day, it seemed...

"What can I get for you?" The bartender stepped up to the two with a bright smile, polishing a glass he was holding in his hand.

"The usual." Hanai simply smiled back at him as he answered, and the bartender nodded in understanding and then looked to Halle. "What do you want?" Hanai cast her a smile, looking at her rather sweetly as he asked her in a quiet, gentle voice.

Halle felt herself get butterflies from suddenly being looked at and spoken to like that, and by _Hanai_ , of all people. To cover up her embarrassment, she shook her head and turned to look at the bartender, obviously exasperated. "I'll take a bourbon, neat."

The bartender just nodded, not even writing down their order. "So the usual red wine for Hanai, and a bourbon, neat, for the lady." He repeated their order back to them, despite being a little surprised by what the petite woman ordered, and he walked off to make the drinks.

Hanai looked over at Halle a little concerned. "Bourbon is pretty strong... Can you handle that much alcohol?"

Halle made a "pfft" sound as she rolled her eyes. "Well, yeah. It's only got an alcohol content of .40." She smiled wickedly at Hanai, as if she was _daring_ him to challenge what she said.

Hanai was just even more worried by how she dismissed the high alcohol content as if it were nothing, and he shot her a scrutinizing look. "Hey, don't mess with me. Let's cancel the bourbon and just get you a soft drink..."

Not only did she order a drink that was pretty strong alcohol-wise, but she ordered it neat, which meant it was just the alcohol poured straight into an old-fashioned glass with nothing added to it. Not chilled, no ice... Nothing.

Halle took offense to how he just casually undermined her, a little upset that he didn't even believe her. "No, Hanai, it's fine. I don't get drunk, and I can hold my liquor just fine."

Hanai smirked at her a little as he cast her a sideways glance. "Alright... Just don't go getting wasted on me."

"I'll be okay." Halle rolled her eyes, not worried in the slightest bit.

Hanai looked concerned as his mouth fell open a little. "What's that supposed to mean, _'I'll be okay?'"_

Halle rose an eyebrow at him in confusion. "I don't know, exactly what it sounds like...? That was all I could think of to say."

Hanai just smiled at her in the way he always did while he was not-so-secretly-and-silently judging her. "Weirdo."

Halle tried to ignore that little insult as she let herself feel relaxed by the calming sound of the bartender's cocktail shaker. She carefully watched as he poured her bourbon into the glass, and his movements were smooth and fluid.

Halle smiled a little as he came over and placed both of their drinks in front of them. "Here you are, a glass of red wine and a bourbon, neat."

Halle carefully picked up her glass and made a toast with Hanai.

"Here's to not spilling." Hanai smiled gently as he cracked his little joke, which Halle only rolled her eyes at.

"Sounds good." She clinked her glass against his before she brought it to her lips and took one big sip, already feeling refreshed as she felt the bourbon graze her lips. Hanai shot her a weird look, and Halle just looked at him strangely. "What?"

Hanai leaned over and brought his lips to her ear once more. "We have work to do. You can't get drunk."

Halle narrowed her raspberry eyes at him in annoyance. "I already told you, I _don't_ get drunk."

Hanai clearly didn't believe her as he rolled his eyes, and he resumed drinking his wine as he observed the other customers. Halle joined suit, analyzing the crowd to the best of her abilities, trying to find anyone that could possibly be the perp. They whispered the things they noticed into each other's ears, doing their best impression of a lovey-dovey couple lost in their own little world.

A soft buzzing noise reached Halle's phone, and she picked it up and checked it for what had probably been the one _hundredth_ time that night. Displayed on the lock screen was a text from Sam.

 _"Love, where are you? It's getting late..."_

Halle inwardly kicked herself, feeling pretty guilty about being out so late. It couldn't be helped; she was stuck at work. Still, she felt bad about leaving Sam alone to fend for herself. Normally, Halle didn't have to worry about staying out so late, but since Brad called yesterday...

Well, you could say her schedule got altered just a bit.

 _"Sorry, Sam."_ Halle quickly texted her back, trying to not catch Hanai's attention by typing as fast and discretely as she could. _"I got caught up at work with this new investigation. I might be out a little late..."_

A few moments later, her phone buzzed again with a text from Sam. _"Ah, gotcha. No worries, love. I'm still at your flat right now, so I'll just pop over to mine real quick and grab some papers to grade while I dilly dally here until you get home."_

Halle breathed a sigh of relief, glad that Sam was so understanding. _"Thanks, Sam. I owe you one."_

 _"Don't mention it."_

As Halle locked her phone, shoved it into her coat pocket, and began looking around the bar, Hanai's face naturally fell into her field of vision. She felt a twinge of jealousy within herself as she noticed his always calm and cool demeanor. It was no fair that he could always be like that, but as she thought more on it, she realized he was probably devastated at the thought of his friends' attacks.

Halle awkwardly tore her eyes away from her glass, and she looked up at Hanai beside her nervously. "Um, Hanai..." She spoke quietly, barely audible to anyone but her partner.

"What?" He glanced over at her with a smile on his face, appearing to be just fine on the outside.

Halle absentmindedly flickered her gaze to the floor. "About your friends..." She paused for a moment before finishing her thought. "I hope they get better soon."

And for the first time that night, Halle watched Hanai's calm and cool exterior shatter as he stared down into his glass with a depressed frown. "Me too..."

Halle stared at him anxiously, feeling the need to express her thoughts. "Hanai, I'm worried."

Hanai didn't say a word as he just listened to the sound of her voice reach his ears, and he stared down at his wine glass. Noticing the look on his partner's face, he heaved a sigh before he finally spoke up and said something that was on his mind. "The only thing I can do to help them is to find the person who did this, right?" He took his eyes off of his wine glass and looked directly at Halle.

Gazing into his intense eyes, it was like Halle could see straight into his uneasy heart and see his intellect working hard to keep his emotions under control.

And that just made her sad.

"Yeah..." Halle nodded her head, not removing her eyes from Hanai's. "Right."

* * *

 **Stabbing victim #2 is ALSO a friend of Hanai's? Things are starting to get weird here...**

 **Hanai's starting to lose it, despite his best efforts to keep calm. Halle's checking her phone like a maniac (as always) and had a suspicious conversation with Sam while she was at the bar with Hanai...**

 **Want to know what's going on? Then you'll just have to keep reading! :D**

 **Read, review, and enjoy the story~**


	14. Chapter 14

The bar's closing time approached, and Hanai and Halle's stakeout came to an end. The two quickly went back to Second Unit's office, and as soon as they stepped in, Yachigusa was the first to welcome them with a big grin.

"You're back!" Yachigusa ran up to them, looking a little excited. "We've been waiting for you two."

Halle quickly noticed that everyone in Second Unit was here, and Tennoji impatiently stood up. "Okay, well, let's go."

Hanai's eyes widened a little, and he stared back at Tennoji. "Where?"

"To karaoke." Kyobashi answered simply, as if it were completely obvious and Hanai was an idiot for not realizing that.

"Karaoke?" Halle's jaw fell open wide as she looked at the time on her phone. "Now!?"

"It's still early." Asano reassured her, suggesting this was a good idea with the intense look of _"why not?"_ he had written on his face.

...ten o'clock was _early?_ No, it really wasn't.

"What do you mean, _'early?'"_ Halle stared at him oddly, holding up her iPhone's clock to show him what time it was. "It's after _ten."_

"The night is young, Mitchell." Kirisawa smiled and laughed a little, lighting up his cigarette.

Halle awkwardly looked off to the side, biting her lip a little. "I don't know... I really can't stay out that late tonight."

"What, got a curfew?" Yachigusa teased her, nudging Halle's arm with his own. "Considering everything that's happened, we figured Kazusa's probably feeling pretty down, which is why we need to go to karaoke tonight. It won't be the same without you!"

Hanai looked a little flustered from being put on the spot like this. "W-what are you guys talking about?"

Tennoji walked up and swung an arm around Hanai forcefully, shaking him a little. "Let's get our party on at karaoke tonight! And then tomorrow we can come back ready to beat this case."

Hanai seemed to be on track with their plan as he slowly started to nod his head in agreement. "Oh, okay..."

Kirisawa beamed at Hanai, glad to have him on board. "You're coming too, right, Mitchell?" He looked over to her as he asked that question, trying to guilt her into saying yes.

Halle checked the clock on her phone once more before heaving a heavy, tired sigh. "I guess I don't really have a choice now, do I...?"

* * *

When they got to the karaoke bar, Halle's eyes widened in horror as she instantly recognized the place. No one seemed to notice the rookie detective's inner struggle as they strode into the karaoke bar they regularly frequented to sing and have a little fun, and they all took a seat at what was their regular table.

Halle's eyes fluttered around the familiar room, and no one saw her wince when she spotted the large poster of her eighteen-year-old self that was mounted up on the wall behind the bar in a "place of honor." She had _hoped_ that Ryo had taken that embarrassing thing down sometime in the past six years, but it looked like he had not...

Yachigusa asked everyone what they wanted to drink, and he walked off to order them. They all had come here to sing, but everyone just ended talking about work instead.

"How did the stakeout go?" Kyobashi looked over at Hanai, directing his question mainly at him.

Hanai shook his head, looking rather calm at the moment. "I didn't notice anyone who seemed suspicious."

"What about the people there by themselves?" Asano pitched in, entering the discussion nonchalantly.

"There were a few, but..." Hanai began his response to that with a relaxed look on his face. "...they were all too old to fit the description of our perp."

Tennoji was visibly disappointed with this news, and his lips turned downwards into a frown. "So, he just happened not to show today..."

"Yeah..." Hanai's lips drew into a thin line as his whole body seemed to stiffen with seriousness. "Well, we'll be back tomorrow."

"Aaaand the work conversations stop there!" Yachigusa suddenly appeared with a tray of drinks for everyone, and he quickly distributed them to everyone. "Singing starts now!"

"Haha!" Kirisawa let out a hearty chuckle, smiling largely with his cigarette in his mouth. "Okay, okay... Enough about work, guys."

And then, the awful moment Halle had been _hoping_ she could avoid happened.

"What do you wanna sing, Halle?" Yachigusa slipped into the booth and sat next to her on the side that wasn't currently occupied by Hanai.

"Oh, no, I'm okay..." Halle awkwardly averted the question, waving her hands in front of her defensively as she shied away from Yachigusa, involuntarily scooting closer to Hanai's side. "Somebody else can choose first."

"You're the new kid." Kyobashi smirked at her, taking this opportunity to torture and tease her a little. "You _have_ to sing."

Halle just sweatdropped a little as she looked to Kirisawa for help. "Is that a real rule...?"

No one bothered to answer her question as Yachigusa patted her on the shoulder. "Okay, so, tell me what you want to sing, and I'll put in the number."

"Please don't make me..." Halle buried her flushed face in her hands as she slowly began to sink back into her chair.

"Oh, don't tell me _you're_ too nervous to get up and sing now, Halle."

Halle was the only one at the table to visibly tense up at the sound of that voice, and all the other guys just looked behind them, very confused. They spotted a middle-aged man coming up to them that they all knew too well: Ryo Mitsuuo, the owner of the karaoke bar.

"Halle, you know Ryo?" Yachigusa looked at Halle with a shocked expression that matched the rest of the guys' looks.

"Er..." Halle awkwardly tried to explain herself, not really knowing how to. "Well, you see..."

"Haha!" Ryo came up and clapped Halle on the back with a little too much force, finding her awkward attempt at explaining this to be amusing. "Do I know Halle? This is the girl who single-handedly helped get my business up on its feet when we first opened up!"

Tennoji furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, staring across the table at Halle curiously. "Mitchell, what's this guy talkin' about?"

Halle opened her mouth to speak, hesitantly forming her thoughts into words as she looked up at Ryo. "Now, I wouldn't go _that_ far..."

Ryo grinned brightly at her modesty, and he glanced over at his regular customers he knew so well. "This little one used to come in here all the time with her Show Choir friends and sing, back when she was still in high school and I first opened up the place! Because of all the girls coming in almost three or more times a week, people would come far and wide just to hear them sing, and my business _skyrocketed!"_

Hanai stared blankly at his partner, not even sure what to ask at this point. "Show...Choir?"

Halle's embarrassment only seemed to grow, and she could hardly keep her private life hidden at this point, because every time she tried to cover something up, Ryo would just come out and say it for her.

"You know, it's that high school club that combines singing and dancing!" Ryo chuckled a little as he reached down and ruffled Halle's hair in a fatherly manner. "This little one here was club president of her school's Show Choir for all four years!"

All of the guys from Second Unit just looked at Halle growing more and more embarrassed with each passing second, and they all slowly turned their expressions up into amused smiles as this was all starting to sink in. Halle was club president of her high school's Show Choir...?

Finally, someone noticed the giant poster Ryo had made of high-school Halle singing her heart out while shamelessly standing on top of the bar's counter, and that someone was none other than Shusuke Asano. "...isn't that you?" He looked over at Halle as he pointed to the large poster of her rocking out, shooting the rookie detective a questioning glance.

Halle's whole face was a brighter shade of red than a tomato, and she twitched slightly from being under everyone's gaze after they all looked up to see that embarrassing poster of her. "Ryo, I can't believe you still have that thing hanging up..."

"Haha, of course I kept it!" Ryo heartily chuckled and ruffled Halle's hair once more, enjoying this way too much. "You're my most prized customer, and a damn good singer. There was no way I was going to take it down!"

Halle turned her red face to look at the guys she worked with, who were all waiting for some sort of explanation. She covered her cheeks with her hands as she started to explain. "So... When I was in high school, I joined the Show Choir club, and I quickly made my way to the top as club president within a month. I used to bring the newbies here for a little "test of courage" style initiation, where you had to get up on the counter and sing to everyone in the bar. If you fell on your face, you were out, but if you sang great, you were in." She tried to give them sort of idea of what the club was like. "We were a club that started out as thirty or so girls, and over the years we grew even bigger, so much so that we started to go to competitions to compete against other teams in the country. We were pretty good."

"Well, would you look at that." Kirisawa laughed a little, putting out his cigarette as he looked at Halle. "Looks like we've got _two_ music aficionados in Second Unit."

Halle quirked an eyebrow in confusion, and she followed Kirisawa's gaze until she found herself staring directly at Hanai.

...was _Hanai_ the music aficionado Kirisawa was talking about?

"Wow, Halle!" Yachigusa patted her on the back, very impressed with all of this. "Why didn't you tell us you could sing and dance earlier?"

Halle awkwardly just shrugged her shoulders as she took a sip of her drink. "I don't know... You never asked."

Kyobashi seemed amused by her hesitance. "So you sing, _and_ dance... Anything else?"

Halle awkwardly averted her gaze from Kyobashi's flirty stare, and she muttered under her breath, "well, I play the piano, too," which didn't go unheard by the guys from Second Unit.

"You play the piano?" Hanai's interest seemed to be piqued by this, and he looked over at his partner curiously.

Halle squirmed a little under Hanai's stare. "Yeah. Since I was six. It was something my mother made me do when I was a kid, because she thought that every _"proper young lady"_ needed to have at least _one_ special talent, so she decided that playing the piano would be mine."

Hanai seemed to be the only one at the table who picked up on the passive-aggressive bitterness that came from Halle's mouth as she spoke of her mother, and the rest of the guys just seemed to be in awe after learning of their newest addition to the team's secret talent.

"Okay, now you _definitely_ have to sing!" Yachigusa smiled brightly as he promptly shoved Halle out of her seat and into a standing position. "Come on, Halle!"

"Eep!" Halle let out a little squeak as Yachigusa practically pushed her up onto the stage, and she awkwardly stood there in front of everyone holding the mic close to her chest.

Well, this was about to get very...interesting.

Having not seriously sung anything in almost six years, Halle was feeling a little nervous about singing in front of the guys. As the intro music started to play on the loud speakers, all Halle could really think was that she better not screw up in front of everyone, because if she did, she would just _die_ of embarrassment. As the lyrics popped up on the screen in front of her, Halle paid no attention to them as the song _really_ started to play, given that she had memorized the familiar song long ago. She opened her mouth and sung her heart out to the song playing, which was the one song she had sung the most when she used to come here all the time as a teenager: Emergency, by Paramore. Ryo went back to standing behind his bar as he listened to Halle's voice with a smile on his face. All of the guys really got into her singing, bobbing their heads and dancing a little as they remained seated and watched her sing on stage. Halle's beautiful voice then came to a slow stop as the song came to an end, and she awkwardly fled the stage and returned to her table filled with roaring applause from the Second Unit guys.

"Nice." Kyobashi nodded his head in approval, looking Halle up and down a little _too_ closely. "It's not so bad going to karaoke with a girl."

"You're good." Asano simply observed with the tiniest smile on his face.

Tennoji smirked a little as he placed his hand on one of his hips. "Your detective skills need work, but I think I'm startin' to see you in a new light."

"What!?" Halle blew a fuse at that backhanded compliment, and she glared at Tennoji harshly.

"You should be more honest about your feelings, Yutaka." Yachigusa gently nudged Tennoji's arm a little with his elbow, smirking all the while.

Tennoji's mouth fell open angrily at that. "Whaddaya mean by that!?"

And then, the argument that was about to spark was immediately interrupted by a cool, cold-hearted comment from Hanai.

"She sucked."

Halle whirled her head around in shock as she stared at her partner with widened eyes. She... _sucked?_ Not possible. She wasn't arrogant like this guy here, but Halle was very aware of the fact that she was a better singer than most; her mother made _sure_ of that. Her mother practically beat it into her head from the time she was a child that she needed to become flawless at all areas of music in order to be a truly _"accomplished and desirable woman"_ someday. So, to hear that Hanai thought that she sucked was more than just a _little_ shocking.

"...what?" Halle blinked at her partner owlishly, unable to comprehend this at all.

"Your singing _sucked."_ Hanai's mouth fell open in awe, shocked that she didn't realize her clear lack of talent herself. "Listening to it was almost physically _painful."_ He stared at her in disbelief as he gave her his honest, jerky opinion.

"What the hell!?" Halle blurted her thoughts out loud, not used to being insulted like this to her face. "Fine, then!" She took her mic and practically _shoved_ it towards Hanai, pissed off beyond words. "I'd like to see _you_ do better, Hanai!"

"Fine." Hanai reached out to grab the mic from Halle's hands. "Give me the mic."

Before Hanai could grab the microphone from Halle's hands, Tennoji quickly intercepted it. "Uh-uh! Ain't no way!"

Halle quirked an eyebrow at Tennoji before looking back at her partner. "What would you like to sing, Hanai?"

"Halle! Noooo!" Yachigusa quickly tried to get Halle to stop pressing the matter, failing horribly.

"Eiki, shut it!" Hanai angrily snapped at Yachigusa, and he reached across the table at Tennoji. "Tennoji, gimme the mic."

Kyobashi looked over at Halle nonchalantly. "I'm singing next, so put in the number for my song. Okay, Mitchell?"

Halle smiled awkwardly, shaking her head no. "Well, Hanai's going to sing next, but you can go after him."

Asano shook his head no frantically. "We should let Kyobashi sing."

Halle stared at the blue-haired, usually silent man in shock. "Even you, Asano? Geez, guys! What's the deal?"

Kirisawa put out the cigarette had had just lit, and for some reason, he started laughing as Hanai tried to snatch the microphone from Tennoji again. "Give me that mic!"

"No!" Yachigusa stepped in, desperately trying to keep this from happening as he glanced back at Asano. "Shusuke, hold Kazusa back!"

Asano instantly complied with Yachigusa's orders, and he silently stood up and grabbed onto Hanai's arms from behind. "Let me go!" Hanai instantly tried to twist himself from Asano's grip, angry and confused at the same time. "We came to karaoke for me, right!?"

Kyobashi looked down at the ground awkwardly. "That's true, but..."

"Then let me sing!" Hanai glared at him, getting frustrated now. "That's what I came here for!"

"Get a grip, Kazusa." Even Tennoji was starting to get annoyed by this as he sighed sharply, looking off to the side of the room.

Halle just awkwardly watched this exchange as she retreated back to her thoughts. They all invited both herself and Hanai to karaoke tonight because Hanai was feeling down, but they wouldn't let him sing, despite the brunette's constant efforts to snatch the microphone.

...she didn't get these guys.

Everyone was desperate to stop Hanai for the rest of the night, and they continued to scramble to keep the microphone away from him. And to Halle, it all somehow seemed...fun. They always argued and fought, but they actually were all really close friends, which wasn't something you would think at first glance.

As she continued watching everyone, Halle couldn't help but smile. Whatever the reason she was transferred to Second Unit was, she didn't care anymore. She was just grateful that she _did_ get transferred and met everyone here in Second Unit, because she was beginning to think of these guys as her family.

A family that was actually happy to have her be a part of it for a change, unlike her _real_ family...

* * *

 **XD oh man, I can't stop laughing about how desperate everyone was to keep Hanai from singing... I laughed so hard when I first read that in the story, and I just KNEW that there was no way I wasn't going to keep that scene in my book.**

 **So, we learned another thing about Halle in this chapter: Show Choir club president! This won't be the last time her musical talents will be mentioned, so stay tuned for the next chapter! The story only gets more interesting from here!**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


	15. Chapter 15

Over the next few days, Halle and Hanai continued their undercover stakeouts at the bar, but they weren't able to find anyone fitting the perp's description. Finding nothing but more dead ends, the two partners set out one day to interview possible witnesses to the second stabbing.

And Halle, of course, was taking notes.

The second stabbing victim, Hanai's friend Horikawa, looked thoughtful as he tried to think back to when he was stabbed a few days ago. "I was headed to my usual lunch spot, and when I turned a corner a man just stabbed me. I saw the guy's back as he was running off, but that's about it."

Hanai worriedly stared down at his friend sitting in his wheelchair outside of the hospital he had been admitted to, and his eyes lingered on the bandages wrapped around Horikawa's waist. "Did he have any distinguishing features?"

"Not really..." Horikawa thought about it for a moment, shaking his head no. "I only saw his back... Actually, he could've even been a girl."

Hanai's gaze hardened a little in disappointment, hoping his friend would have remembered something new that would help with the case. "Did you get an idea of your attacker's height and build?"

"Probably a bit small for a guy, but about average for a woman." Horikawa shrugged his shoulders a little, wracking his brain for anything else that could help Hanai with his investigation.

Hanai smiled a little as he thought of something else. "There's usually quite a bit of foot traffic on that street, correct?"

Horikawa was a little unsure as he just casually shrugged his shoulders. "At lunch time, I guess, but it's a back street so it's not so bad."

"Got it." Hanai turned his head to the side a little as he smiled. "Thank you for your cooperation."

"Sorry I wasn't a bigger help, Kazusa." Horikawa grinned awkwardly, scratching the back of his head as he suddenly looked over at Halle. "Be careful investigating this case, miss. I don't want you getting hurt on my account."

Halle's eyebrows shot up into her hairline at this guy's smooth comment, and she smiled a little in response. "Oh, don't you worry about me." She comically held up her fists and smirked confidently. "I can handle myself just fine. I totally can kick ass!"

"...but other than that, she's pretty useless." Hanai cut in with that cold comment, which immediately earned him a glare, courtesy of his partner Halle.

"Hey!" Halle narrowed her eyes at Hanai bitterly. "Would it seriously kill you to be nice to me for once!?"

Hanai thought about it for a good minute before he just nodded his head yes. "Probably."

"Hey!" Halle pouted a little, and she turned her head away with a "humph!" as she gave him the cold shoulder.

Horikawa just laughed as he watched the two interact with each other. "You get along with your girlfriend really well, Kazusa. I wish you would have told me about her sooner, because I probably would have tried to steal her from you!" He laughed good-heartedly, only half joking.

Halle blushed a little at Horikawa's forwardness. "O-oh... I'm not his girlfriend. We're just partners."

Horikawa just smiled at that. "Oh, really now?"

Hanai didn't like where this conversation was going, and he immediately turned and started to walk away without listening to any more of it. "Let's go, Mitchell."

"Wait, Hanai!" Halle turned and held up her hand to stop him, but he just kept going. She apologetically turned to Horikawa with an awkward smile. "Er... Sorry about this. He's just..."

"...always like this?" Horikawa finished her sentence for her, smiling all-knowingly. "Yeah, I know. You better get going now, because he's not going to wait for you." He laughed a little at the sudden look of panic that came up on Halle's face.

"Oh, right!" Halle jumped with alarm, and she instantly turned and started to run and catch up to Hanai. "Wait up, Hanai!"

Horikawa just laughed as he watched Halle instantly trip and face-plant onto the pavement, then instantly jump back up and shout, "I'm okay!" before resuming her attempt at catching up to Hanai.

"Well, Kazusa..." Horikawa gripped the wheels on his wheelchair as he started to turn himself back towards the hospital doors. "I'm glad you finally found someone who can actually keep up with your rapid fire. And lucky for you, she's an adorable klutz."

* * *

Hanai walked fast. Like, _really_ fast, and poor Halle did her best to keep up with him. They had been walking around all day, since eight o'clock this morning, actually, and Halle felt like her legs were going to fall off. Especially since she was wearing her three-hundred-dollar designer four-inch black pumps. Who cared if they were unconventional shoes for a cop to wear? They were cute, and that was what mattered. And Halle had taught herself how to run fast in them, so all she had to do was suffer through the pain of wearing four-inch heels for six hours straight.

"Hanai." Halle spoke her partner's name in attempt to grasp his attention, jogging a little to match his pace.

Hanai didn't say a word, and he had a very focused, hardened expression on his face.

Halle bobbed her head a little in disappointment, knowing exactly what he was thinking. "All of the eyewitness info we are getting seems to correspond perfectly with what we heard through our radios that day, right?"

Hanai didn't answer her, and he just kept walking.

Halle looked concerned as she pressed herself up against Hanai's side, and she looped her arm around his and comfortingly placed her hand on one of his. "Hanai? Is everything alright?"

Hanai suddenly seemed to jar from his thoughts, and he awkwardly stared down at the ground. "Ahh..." He sighed a little, looking off into the distance with tired eyes. "Oh, Mitchell!" He suddenly noticed her eyes on him, unfazed by her arm around his. "Sorry, did you say something?"

Halle glanced at him with a worried expression, given that he was looking at her as if he was just now realizing that she was standing right next to him. "Hanai, you're worrying me, spacing out like that..."

Hanai seemed a little distracted as he looked at anything _but_ her. "Sorry. I promise I'm fine. Anyways..." He nonchalantly changed the subject, trying his best to hide his exhaustion from his partner. He hadn't had a single good night's sleep since these stabbing started. "You must be hungry, since we've been walking around forever. That bakery we went to before is around here, so let's go grab lunch."

"Alright." Halle agreed to his suggestion without putting up a fight, feeling rather hungry herself, just as he had predicted.

As Halle casually let go of Hanai's arm and slipped hers out from under his, the two detectives turned the corner and began walking in the direction of the bakery.

* * *

"...Hanai, are you really buying _all_ of those?"

"Is there something wrong with that?"

"No, it's just..." Halle awkwardly tried to say what was on her mind, staring at Hanai's tray piled with a huge amount of pastries and sandwiches.

"You're one to talk." Hanai turned his head to the side a little and smirked, not letting her finish. "Are you really going to eat all of _that?"_

Halle stared down at her tray that had a matching large pile of food on it, and she shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "What can I say? I love food."

Hanai made a little, "pfft," sound as he scoffed at her. "Acknowledging it isn't going to help anything."

Halle dropped her jaw in amusement, getting a little defensive now. "What's wrong with liking to eat?"

"Well, I suppose people who like to eat are more fun to watch than those who don't." Hanai shrugged his shoulders, walking up to the bakery's cash register at the counter.

Halle found herself staring at her partner's back in bewildered confusion as she scurried to catch up to him. "...is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"A compliment?" Hanai drew his head back a little sardonically. "That might be a bit of an exaggeration."

Halle scoffed a little in shock as she caught up to Hanai at the register, not even knowing what to say to that. The black-haired woman who owned the bakery looked surprised when she saw her two best customers bring her their full trays.

" _All_ of this...?" She looked a little unsure as she eyed the several pastries and sandwiches the two had stacked up on their trays combined.

Hanai smiled sweetly to her, dropping his arrogant demeanor he had up earlier. "Your stuff is really delicious, so..."

The woman smiled awkwardly at his little compliment, not really knowing what to say. "There are lots of other good bakeries around. What's so special about mine?"

Hanai turned his head to the side and gave her that amazing smile that would blow any woman away with how stunningly handsome it was. "Your bread tastes better than anywhere else."

The woman's face erupted into a bright smile as her cheeks flushed slightly from his earnest compliment. "I see... Well, thank you." She smiled bashfully in apology as she quickly bagged their food. "Your total together is thirty two dollars."

And once again, before Halle could even pull out her wallet, Hanai had already handed the woman his debit card.

Halle just stared at him in shock, holding her wallet firmly in her hands. "...seriously?"

Hanai looked at her for a brief moment before he suddenly just sighed. "Oh, you're not going to start _this_ again, are you?"

"Start _what!?_ You never let me pay for my own lunch!"

"I'm being nice! I told you I'd take care of it!"

"You seriously don't have to! I'm not dirt poor or something!"

"I never said you were!"

"I never said that you thought I was!"

"Ugh!"

"Ugh!"

* * *

After an argument about who should pay that lasted a solid ten minutes, which resulted in Halle losing and Hanai paying for lunch once more, the two detectives left the bakery and went to the same park to eat their lunch that they did last time. And just like last time, they sat next to each other on the swing set.

Halle sighed in relief as she lifted her aching feet off of the ground. "Ah... It's nice to finally sit down. I guess I really _was_ tired from walking."

"What are you saying?" Hanai looked over at her, very annoyed with her incompetence as he glared at her. "We're detectives. Walking is a part of the job."

"I know that!" Halle snapped back at him defensively, and her expression melted into a comical look of relief as fake tears of joy streamed down her face. "It's just that...walking around without anything to eat or drink is kind of _torturous_..."

"Pfft..." Hanai laughed in amusement, smirking a little as he looked over at her. He then turned his gaze back down to his sandwich and took a bite of it. "Amateur."

Halle ignored his little insult and took in one deep breath of the fresh air. "Being here again reminds me of that drug case."

"Oh yeah. It was only a few weeks ago, but it feels like more." Hanai suddenly frowned a little as he looked down at the ground, thinking back to the first case they really ever worked together.

Back then, his partner really _was_ an amateur, letting the perp get the drop on her like that. It really bugged him that he allowed her to get attacked and injured, though, even if it _was_ part of the job. Halle wasn't that bad of a detective now, though. Not that he would ever admit it to her. Although, Hanai did acknowledge the fact that she had really started to get the hang of everything these past few weeks.

Halle got lost in her own thoughts as the sad frown on Hanai's face didn't go away. "I guess that's because we've been so busy with cases since then."

Hanai smirked a little as she said that, and he looked at her from the side. "I wish we could live in a world without crime, but if that happened, we'd be out of a job. Ironic, huh?"

Halle grinned a little and looked back at him. "But it would be worth it to have a world without crime."

"Obviously." Hanai's expression hardened at her statement, taking it way too seriously.

"Yeah..." Halle feigned interest in this conversation as her eyes fell onto the giant pile of sandwiches in Hanai's lap, and she tilted her head to the side a little. "You must really be into bread, huh, Hanai?"

"Not really." Hanai shook his head a little as he resumed casually eating his sandwich. "I'm not especially obsessed with it."

"Huh?" Halle looked stunned as she stared at him oddly. "Then why did you buy so many sandwiches and stuff?"

"No reason." Hanai shrugged his shoulders, not even having to think about it. "I always buy a lot."

Halle tilted her head to the side as she tried to understand her partner. "So it's like...a habit for you to buy a lot?"

"A habit?" Hanai looked at her with a curious, charming smile on his face. "Yeah, I guess you could say that." He let out a little laugh, and he took another bite of his sandwich.

They say there for awhile eating their lunch, watching the people around them enjoying their breaks in the park. They enjoyed the comfortable silence for a little while, until Hanai suddenly broke it.

"Mitchell, show me today's notes." Hanai held out his hand to her, gesturing her to hand him her little notebook.

"Okay." Halle bobbed her head as she began digging through her trench coat pockets, and she passed Hanai her little blue notebook.

Hanai looked at her notebook in disbelief as he began flipping through the pages. "Same scribble-scratch messy handwriting as usual, huh? You've _got_ to work on that."

"What!?" Halle blew a fuse as she glared over at her partner. "I was in a hurry. This isn't a handwriting contest!"

Hanai just rolled his eyes a little at her typical response, not fazed anymore by her back-talk. "How you write says a lot about your personality."

"What!?" Halle glared at him again. "So you think I'm like a messy person or something?"

"I didn't say that." Hanai grew serious again as he ignored her expressions, reading through her notebook carefully. "Besides, I don't even know what a 'messy' person is."

Halle scoffed a little, sulking as she turned back to her sandwich. "I don't know either, but it doesn't sound good... Like, maybe someone who doesn't have their shit together or something."

"Now you're just insulting yourself." Hanai smirked over at her, amused by her slip-up. "Self-sabotage."

"H-hey!" Halle dropped her jaw at Hanai's quip, and she was beginning to lose her cool. "I have my shit together, thank you very much. I'll have you know that I..." Halle suddenly stopped her sentence halfway through, realizing that she was about to let _that_ slip. That would have been awkward to explain. "...never mind."

"What were you about to say?" Hanai looked over at her, curious now.

Halle's expression fell as she looked off to the side. "Nothing." She then bounced back, changing the subject. "Anyways, that's just my note-taking handwriting for when I'm in a rush. My actual handwriting is much nicer."

"I see." Hanai just simply agreed with her, wondering if that was true. He then handed her back her notepad, done looking through it.

Halle sulked a little as she looked through her notebook self-consciously, muttering to herself as she did so. "Is it really that messy...? You can still read it just fine..." She heard Hanai scoff as he watched her examine her handwriting and talk to herself.

"Okay then, it's getting pretty late." Hanai checked his watch and then immediately stood up from the swing he was sitting on. "I'll be gone for a little while. You continue canvassing the area."

Halle stumbled to stand up too, caught off guard by Hanai's sudden declaration to leave. "Okay, but where are you going?"

"Just a boring errand." Hanai nonchalantly shrugged off her curiosity, turning to leave. "I'll meet you at the bar tonight."

"Okay..." Halle watched Hanai walk off, and she plopped back down onto her swing to rest her legs a little further.

Why was it no matter how much they investigated, they didn't find anything that connected the perp to the victims...? Poor Hanai... The victims were both friends of his, and Halle knew that it was really bothering him that he felt so useless right now, coming up with dead end after dead end...

"...I'd better get back to work." Halle stood up once more, finding a new resolve. She just _had_ to help her partner take down this guy, no matter _what_ it took.

But little did she know that this was only the start of one long, crazy night...

* * *

 **Ambiguous ending. Well, I'm home sick, and I'm bored, so I figured I would actually do SOMETHING productive today and work on a book XD hope you guys enjoyed these last two chapters!**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


	16. Chapter 16

As night fell, and the sky darkened in contrast to the bright stars shining overhead, Detective Halle Mitchell walked down the grey sidewalk and made her way to the bar she was meeting Hanai at. The little doorbell chimed as she gently pushed it open, and as soon as she made eye contact with the bartender inside, he smiled and waved hello to her.

"Good evening." The bartender greeted his new regular as Halle walked in, and she beamed back.

Halle surveyed the bar, and she instantly noticed that Hanai was nowhere in sight, meaning she had beat him here. And unlucky for her, tonight the bar was _packed_ with swarming crowds of people. Friday night appeared to be a _very_ busy night, which meant she couldn't sit at the bar for her stakeout tonight.

"Sorry." The bartender smiled awkwardly to her in apology. "The four-top in the back is the only open table we have. Do you mind?"

"No, it's no problem." She waved her hand to dismiss his concern, smiling gratefully. "Thanks."

She _wanted_ to avoid sitting at this table, but it seemed to be completely unavoidable at the moment. Like Hanai had said before, you couldn't see the whole bar from it. However, she had no other choice as she sat down and began to wait for Hanai.

"Good evening." The bartender greeted a new customer and signaled them to Halle, and Hanai quickly came into her line of sight.

"Sorry, were you waiting?" Hanai asked with a gentle smile as he made his way over to her.

Halle shook her head no in comprehension. "No, I just got here myself."

Hanai's mouth fell open in shock, staring at the table Halle was sitting at in disbelief before he began looking around the bar. "Were these the only open seats?"

"Yeah. The place is packed tonight." Halle bitterly frowned as Hanai sat down across from her, resting her head in her hand. She propped her elbow up on the table as she began looking through the menu the waitress brought for them.

"I'll get my usual." Hanai said to the waitress, then looked over at Halle. "I'm guessing you want your neat bourbon, as well?"

Halle smiled in delighted surprise at her partner. "Oh? Since when do you take enough interest in me to remember my favorite drink?"

The two shared a little laugh at that joke, and after a little while, the waitress brought them their drinks. Hanai picked up his wine glass, and he held it out to Halle.

"Here's to a hard day's work." Hanai smirked a little, making a toast.

Halle clinked her old-fashioned glass against Hanai's. "Cheers!" Their glasses made a lovely sound when they clinked them together, and Halle grinned a little. "What a nice sound..."

Hanai seemed unfazed by this, but he was amused with Halle's easily-pleased nature. "These glasses are really high-end, so they sound better than cheaper glasses."

"Hmm." These glasses reminded Halle of the ones her father had back home, and she felt a little happier when his grinning face came to mind.

"Do you like your drink?" Hanai looked over at her, genuinely wondering this. Bourbon wasn't exactly your typical "ladies" drink.

"Mmhmm." Halle nodded her head happily. "This was my father's drink... He was the one who got me drinking the stuff when I got old enough to handle it."

"I see." Hanai smirked at the happy look on her face, and he involuntarily grinned at her with his Prince Charming smile, which immediately made Halle's heart start to pound just from _looking_ at it.

They were only supposed to be _pretending_ to be a couple, but Halle's heartbeat tried to say otherwise. She internally kicked herself for feeling all fluttery around him. Hanai was her partner! Part- _ner!_ No more, no less. They were just _partners._

Hanai played the part of the cool boyfriend perfectly, quietly sipping his wine as Halle's heart raced. "Are you noticing anything new?" He suddenly asked her with his firm expression, staring across the table at his partner.

"Not at all." Halle took one large gulp of her bourbon in attempt to get her heart to shut _up_ , disappointed with her lack of observations. "How about you?"

"Me neither." Hanai shook his head, a little disappointed himself.

They sat in the dimly lit bar for a few hours, talking sometimes and not talking others, always keeping an eye on the movements of the people around them. Halle occasionally checked her phone for any text messages or missed calls from Ellie or Sam, and maybe even Brad, and she kept an eye on the clock, being very conscious of how late she was staying out. The silence between the two detectives was starting to bore Halle a little, and she decided that she just _had_ to start a conversation with Hanai to keep herself entertained.

"So..." Halle attempted to not be socially awkward, swinging her legs back and forth underneath the table like a child. "How long have you been coming to this bar?"

"Since college." Hanai's face fell as he redirected his gaze to the floor. "...with my two friends who were attacked."

"Matsudaira and Horikawa?" Halle asked, prodding him a little now that she was curious to learn more.

"Yeah." Hanai smiled a little, reminiscing about the past. He seemed to be cheering up a little as he started to talk about his two best friends. "We were always together. Even now, we still hang out a lot."

Halle nodded her head slowly, listening avidly to Hanai's story. "So you've been a regular at this bar for a while."

"Yeah." Hanai seemed to grimace slightly at a thought he just had. "It's quiet, unlike _Station."_

Halle laughed a little at her partner's grumpiness, taking a sip of her bourbon. "I like how lively Station is, though."

"It's not that I _hate_ the place." Hanai rolled his eyes with a little smile. "It's just loud."

The guy at the table next to them suddenly paid his bill and got up, and he must have been very drunk or something, because he dropped his jacket onto the chair next to Halle's.

"I'm sorry." The man apologized, and he picked up his jacket quickly.

"It's fine." Halle waved him off, watching him as he suddenly left the bar.

"There's something I want to write down." Hanai suddenly spoke up, looking very serious. "I lost my pen somewhere. Can you lend me yours?"

"Sure." Halle checked her trench coat's pocket before realizing she had put her pen in her bag. She reached out to get her hand bag when she suddenly met nothing but air. "Huh? My bag's gone..."

"What?" Hanai was suddenly on alert, and he looked over to where his partner's bag had been.

Halle quickly checked under the table, but her bag was, indeed, gone.

"For the love of...!" Halle cursed to herself in frustration, jumping up from the table. "Damn, the one time I actually bring a bag with me, too..."

"That man!" Hanai suddenly shot up from his chair, disregarding Halle completely as he chased after the man, dashing out of the bar at an _impossible_ speed.

Halle rushed to pay the bill, and she took off after Hanai. She ran a few hundred yards down the dead-quiet city streets of Tokyo over the next ten minutes, rubbing her sleeves mechanically in attempt to warm herself up. It was a little chilly tonight, and being out here alone in the dark was starting to make Halle nervous. The dark brought back too many bad memories for the brunette, and she quickened her pace, thinking only about finding her partner somewhere out here now. A few minutes after she ran some more, Halle spotted Hanai down one of the back streets. He was cuffing the man from before, and Halle quickly jogged to catch up to him.

Hanai looked up at his partner as he saw her finally join him. "Mitchell, this was the guy sitting next to you, right?"

"Yes." Halle nodded her head as she recognized the man she had thought to be a clumsy drunk, but was in fact just a worthless thief.

Hanai grew angry at the man now that Halle had confirmed this was the guy, and he tightened his grip on him. "Asshole! You stole her bag!"

Halle's eyes widened at the rare moment where Hanai actually _cursed_ , and the man he was holding began to squirm in Hanai's grip. "Lemme go! Whoddya think you are, the police!?"

Hanai smirked arrogantly as a confident look crossed his face. "Hate to break it to you, but yeah, we're detectives. The local police have been called and are on their way to come get you now."

The man looked completely bewildered at Hanai's confession, not expecting that at all. "W-what...?" He flinched visibly upon realizing his mistake.

"What did you do with the bag!?" Hanai gripped the man's wrists tighter, pressuring him to confess.

"I-I threw it in the dumpster on the corner!" He shakily replied, intimidated by Hanai's terrifying glare.

"The wallet?" Hanai didn't remove his hardened stare from the man at all as he questioned him.

"I took it out..." The man reluctantly admitted, and Hanai took Halle's wallet out of the man's pocket.

Shortly after that, the local police came tearing down the street in their police car, which lit up the back street with their flashing red and blue lights. Hanai held onto the thief as two cops stepped out from the police car, and they came over to the two Second Unit detectives and the petty thief.

"I'll let you guys take it from here." Hanai passed the thief over to the two cops who came up to him, smiling good-heartedly.

"Yes, Sir." One of the officers nodded his head, taking the thief from Hanai's grasp.

Hanai looked over at his partner, ushering her to follow. "Mitchell, let's go look for your bag."

"Okay." Halle nodded her head in agreement, and she quickly plodded behind her partner as he turned a corner.

They headed towards the dumpsters, and there was garbage everywhere in the alley's street. Some of the garbage in the dumpster was stuffed in bags, but some of the bags had broken open and spilled garbage everywhere. The entire place _reeked_ of a foul stench, and Halle had to pinch her nose shut to keep herself from vomiting. Hanai found her bag buried underneath a few garbage bags so as not to be noticed, and he handed it to his partner.

"Ah, my bag!" Halle's face erupted into a huge grin as her black handbag was plopped back into her hands.

Hanai's expression hardened as he stared at her, completely serious as ever. "Let's make sure everything is in there."

"Got it." Halle nodded as she started to check all of her bag's pockets, and her face paled in horror as she couldn't find her necklace she always wore. "...it's not here."

"Huh?" Hanai's mouth fell open in surprise as he stared at his partner.

"The pendant my mother gave me is gone..." Halle grew very panicked as she rummaged through her bag faster and faster. "The clasp broke today, and I was going to fix it when I got home, so I put it in my bag. It was in the same pocket as my wallet."

Hanai let out one deep sigh as he frowned down at the floor. "It must have fallen out when he took out your wallet..."

"No...!" Halle was very upset that she may have lost her favorite pendant, and her shoulders fell. "It's a protection pendant my mother gave me when I was little, back before she became _unbearable_..." She sighed sharply, rolling her eyes to look off to the side. "It's really important to me."

Hanai just nodded his head, not needing to hear any more of this. "...let's look for it."

"What?" Halle blinked at her partner owlishly, confused by what he meant.

"Well, we know it's somewhere around here..." Hanai turned around in circles, glancing at every nook and cranny of the creepy, dark alley. "Let's look for it."

And before she knew it, Halle watched her oh so very sophisticated partner _jump into the dumpster_ without giving a second thought to the expensive suit he was wearing, and he started to rummage through the garbage.

"Hanai..." Halle stared at him with wide eyes, touched by his selfless gesture, and a little caught off guard by it.

Hanai began sifting through the garbage with his bare hands, and he didn't seem at all worried about the suit he was wearing. Unsure of what to do, despite her expensive high heels she was wearing, Halle jumped into the dumpster beside him and started searching alongside Hanai.

"What color is it?" Hanai looked up at Halle briefly before he started to look through the garbage again.

"Blue." Halle answered firmly, looking distraught as she searched for it too. "It's the one I'm always wearing..."

"Oh, that one." Hanai could picture the cute little pendant she wore every day in his head perfectly now, having remembered what it looked like from seeing it around his partner's neck so often. "Blue... Oh!" Hanai looked excited as he picked up a blue bottle in his hands, and a look of crushed hope found its way to his face. "Damn. This isn't easy."

The dumpster was a _mountain_ of garbage, and it really stunk. Looking for Halle's pendant was just like looking for a needle in a haystack. But despite all of that, Hanai didn't give up for one second. He wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve, not noticing his messed up hair and dirty suit at all. And then...

"Mitchell, is this it?" He pulled a broken necklace from the garbage with a now-dirty pendant strung on it, and he held it up for Halle to see.

Halle beamed as Hanai held what was, without a doubt, the pendant from her mother. "Yes! That's it! That's the pendant from the shrine in my mother's hometown in France!"

"Good." Hanai smiled a little in relief, glad that they finally found it. "Put it away somewhere safe."

"Thank you!" Halle laughed adorably, so incredibly relived that she instinctively reached out and wrapped her arms around Hanai tightly, wrapping him up in a big hug. "Really, thank you so much, Hanai!"

Hanai smiled at her sweetly as he hugged her back, glad to see her in such high spirits. He knew she would be completely crushed if she lost that pendant, so he just _had_ to find it for her, no matter what.

"Well, that's taken care of. But..." Hanai paused a little as he let go of his partner, looking down at himself. "...we're a mess."

Halle grimaced a little as she looked herself over. "...yeah. We're covered in garbage and smell really gross."

Hanai seemed as calm as ever as he analyzed the situation. "We can't go back to Second Unit like this, and even if you tried to go home, you can't get on a train like this."

"Or take a taxi..." Halle chimed in, looking over herself in disgust.

"Do you want to come over to my place?" Hanai suddenly asked her with no trace of embarrassment on his face at all, serious as always.

"...what?" Halle stared at him good and hard, sure that she must have just been hearing things.

"Yeah." Hanai smiled normally, confirming her suspicions. "Why don't we go to my place and take a shower?"

Halle's whole world seemed to crash and burn around her as her face involuntarily flushed the deepest shade of red it _ever_ had.

A shower at _Hanai's!?_

Halle seemed to be at a loss for words as she tripped over them embarrassingly. "Uh, um, well, maybe, I..."

"I mean, we stink." Hanai rationalized this, making complete sense as he looked at her. "A lot."

Halle groaned a little as she looked down at her white blouse that was smudged all over with dirt. "We do..." She sighed discontentedly, seeing his point.

"I live pretty close to here." Hanai added, continuing to speak coolly. "We could walk from here."

"Oh. But..." Halle's eyebrows shot up into her hairline as she thought back to the whole "going back to her partner's place" thing, and Sam's smirking face just came to mind.

Hanai looked down at the ground with a frown. "I can't deal with smelling this bad."

Halle sighed deeply, used to being finely groomed and kept very clean herself, being as well-off as she was. "Yeah, me neither..."

"Okay, then it's decided." Hanai smirked a little, not really giving her a chance to properly answer and just making the decision _for_ her.

"Wait, what?" Halle blinked at him owlishly, unable to process this as she spoke her thoughts aloud. "Are we really going!?" She noticed that she seemed to be the only one here that was embarrassed about this as she screamed inside her mind, _"Hanai, you remember I'm a girl, right!?"_

Maybe he just thought of her as a co-worker, so he wasn't worried...?

...

God, Sam was _never_ going to let her live this down...

* * *

"This is my place." Hanai gestured to the apartment door he stood in front of as he began unlocking it with his key.

Hanai's apartment building was in a quiet, residential area, away from all the hustle and bustle. The walls were a relaxing grey, and each door was a calm, chocolate brown color. The hallways were dimly lit this late at night, and Halle found herself awing at how nice a place this was to live in. There was no doubt that it was rather expensive.

"What a nice building." Halle observed quietly to herself, curiously looking around the place as she spun in circles, waiting for Hanai to open the door.

Hanai turned his head to the side as he smirked at his child-like partner. "It's close to the MPD headquarters and that bar. The location is pretty convenient." They heard the ker-chunk of the key unlocking the door, and Hanai pushed it open. "Go on in."

"Okay..." Halle awkwardly passed by him holding the door open for her, and she was greeted by Hanai's sophisticated, well-decorated, organized apartment.

She followed Hanai into the living room, which had yellowish wooden flooring and cream-colored walls. The furniture was all a deep chocolate brown color that matched the front door, and there were framed family photos and football posters up on the walls. There was a flat screen TV off to the side of the room, but what intrigued Halle the most was that the brown sofa faced a large stereo with several music CDs lined up on the shelf underneath it. Everything was really clean, and the sofa and table were clearly chosen by someone with great taste. Hanai had recessed lighting and decorative plants, too. The whole place had a nice atmosphere to it.

 _"So, this is where Hanai spends his time..."_ Halle thought to herself, taking in the full view of the place.

"You can take the first shower." Hanai smiled at her kindly, being polite and gentlemanly.

"Oh, no. That's okay." Halle chuckled awkwardly, waving her hands defensively in front of her face. "You can go first."

Hanai looked surprised at her kind refusal, and his mouth opened wide as he looked at her. "Don't you want to hurry and wash up?"

"Well, yeah..." Halle smiled a little as she looked off to the side, avoiding eye contact if at all possible as she looked at the clock. "But it's okay. You can go first."

"...okay." Hanai shrugged his shoulders a little, shaking his head at the weird woman standing before him. Just when he thought he knew everything about her, she went and surprised him like this. "Then I'll take the first shower."

Halle flashed him an awkward smile as she nervously ran her hand through her hair. "Um, I know I'm all dirty and everything, but would you mind terribly if I sat on your sofa?"

"I don't mind." Hanai casually shook his head no, giving her permission.

Halle breathlessly laughed a little, staring down at the floor. "Sorry..."

"It's fine." Hanai walked over to the kitchen to wash his hands, and once he was done he took out two teacups from his cabinet. "Is tea okay?" He called out to his partner in the living room, asking her if this drink was alright with her.

"Huh?" Halle looked over at her partner puttering around the kitchen aimlessly, feeling a little awkward about being doted on by him suddenly. "Oh, I don't need anything."

Hanai smirked wryly as he came back into the living room with two steaming cups of tea. "Don't be like that." He walked towards her and handed one of the cups to Halle, flashing her that Prince Charming smile of his once more. "Here you go."

"Oh, thanks..." Halle stared down into the cup, noticing that Hanai had dissolved a lot of sugar into it, just how she liked it.

Hanai drank all of his tea in one gulp and picked up the remote, pointing it at the stereo. "You can listen to music." He said as the quiet, soothing sound of a cello filled the air. "Is cello okay?"

Halle was just so stunned by the music he played that she couldn't even _process_ his question. "You...like _classical_ music?"

"Yeah." Hanai smiled at her naturally. "I listen to the cello quite a bit."

"Huh..." Halle grinned to herself, just thinking about how much she loved classical music herself. After all, she _did_ play it all the time on her piano.

Hanai relaxingly took in one deep breath. "It feels so good to listen to quiet music when you come home after a long day."

Halle gently shut her eyes as she listened to the song play. "I've played this song before. It's one of my favorites."

"Oh, that's right." Hanai suddenly remembered what he had heard back when they went to sing karaoke the other night. "You play the piano, don't you?"

"I do." Halle kept her eyes shut as she bobbed her head back and forth to the music. "Hmm hm hm..." She hummed quietly along with the tune, feeling entirely relaxed and at ease.

Hanai chuckled at how unusually calm his typically spastic partner seemed to be at the moment, and he turned to walk towards the bathroom. "Well, I'll be done in a few minutes. You can change the song if you like."

Hanai left the living room, and the cello music sounded so nice in the quiet room. Next to the stereo was a bookshelf with what looked like hundreds of CDs on it. There was music from lots of different genres, but classical music far outnumbered them all.

"So _this_ is why he was saying he thinks Station is loud..." Halle chuckled a little to herself as she ran her fingers along the spines of the classical music CDs.

Hanai was great at his job, and he always looked so cool and in control. It seemed like he could even be a nice guy sometimes. Thinking about all of these facts about her partner, Halle figured that Hanai's picture was probably in the dictionary under "perfect."

After a few minutes, Halle heard the door to the living room open, and Hanai stepped out of the bathroom. "Hope you weren't too bored."

Halle slowly started to turn around to face him. "Oh, no, I was fine...HUH!?" Her heart nearly stopped as she turned around, and Halle nearly choked on nothing but air.

Hanai was standing there completely _shirtless_ , just casually drying his hair with a towel, as if there wasn't anything awkward about this at all.

"H-Hanai!" Halle called his name as she frantically waved her hands about, completely flustered. She immediately averted her eyes, making a huge deal about this.

"...what's the problem?" Hanai rose an eyebrow at her, confused by why she was acting so weird all of a sudden.

Halle continued to overreact awkwardly as she looked at anything around the room _but_ Hanai. "This is inappropriate, _very_ inappropriate!"

"What? What's so inappropriate?" Hanai didn't get it all as he finished drying his hair, holding the towel firmly in his hands.

Halle's cheeks were stained red as she covered her face with her hands. "Y-you're s-shirtless!"

"It's fine." Hanai scoffed a little, dismissing her concern completely. "It's just because it's hot."

"This is bad...!" Halle continued to wail to herself awkwardly, flailing around nervously.

Hanai just stared at her with an amused grin on his face. "This is what I always do after a shower."

Halle slapped a hand over the side of her face, keeping her eyes from looking over at Hanai. "That's fine, but you can't do that today! Put a shirt on!"

Hanai made a "pfft" sound as he laughed at her. "What, am I too distracting for you?"

"No!" Halle instantly flat-out denied it, even more embarrassed now. "I mean, well, how could I _not_ be at least a little distracted... Ugh!" She got fed up and slammed her head on the wall, covering her embarrassed face completely. "Hanai, please just go put a shirt on..." She whimpered that last part, losing her nerve entirely at this point.

"Geez, make up your mind." Hanai sighed exasperatedly at her indecisiveness, rolling his eyes a little. "Here's your change of clothes." He tossed some clothes onto the sofa before turning to look at her again, even though she was huddled up in a corner of the room and was refusing to look at him at the moment. "Change into this when you finish your shower."

Halle slowly turned away from her corner of shame as the dark purple depression cloud around her head seemed to gradually dissipate. She crossed the room over to the couch and inspected the pile of clothes on it Hanai had left for her. "Umm..."

Hanai just stared at her, shaking his head a little. "You don't want to put dirty clothes on again, right?" Halle remained unresponsive, and Hanai just turned his head to the side and smiled. "It's just a T-Shirt and shorts. They might be weird to wear on the train, but you could wear them for the taxi ride home."

Halle sighed and slumped her shoulders, giving in as she shut her eyes. "Okay..."

Hanai rolled his eyes at her never-ending weirdness, which he was starting to get used to. "I put a towel by the sink for you. There's also a bag for you to put your clothes in."

Halle awkwardly shied away from his glance, frowning a little in embarrassment. "Thanks for doing all that..."

"Use whatever kind of shampoo you want." Hanai's expression grew serious all of a sudden as he looked his partner up and down. "You _do_ know how to use shampoo, don't you?"

"Of course I do!" Halle snapped, and she spun around quickly to glare at him. However, she lost her nerve as she forgot he was still shirtless, and she slapped her hands over her face immediately. "Hanai, just go put some clothes on already!"

"Pfft." Hanai scoffed at her embarrassment, finding it pretty funny, actually. It's not like he was completely naked in front of her or anything. "Well, if you need anything, just yell."

"Okay, I will..." Halle appeared to be dying of embarrassment still, never having been in a situation like this before.

"Okay then." Hanai shook his head a little and smirked, and with that, he left her and walked into the kitchen.

Halle immediately dashed into the bathroom as soon as she got the chance, and she was enveloped by a refreshing scent. It was the smell of Hanai's shampoo and body wash, and she found herself rather liking it. Hanai must've smelled like this when he walked into the living room, but Halle was just so surprised by his...er, _attire_ , that she must not have noticed.

Halle stared at herself in the mirror oddly, making a strange expression as she looked at herself. "Hanai's been so... _thoughtful_ today."

Not really having a clue what had gotten into her partner lately, Halle got undressed and took a quick shower. She sighed in relief as she finally got to wash all of the dirt off of herself and scrub her hair with shampoo, and she quickly towel-dried herself once she stepped out and shoved her dirty clothes into the bag Hanai had set out for her. Halle got changed into the shirt and shorts Hanai had gotten for her, and she laughed a little at how big they were on her. She couldn't believe that she was currently showering at his house and wearing his clothes, and when she looked at her reflection in the mirror, she felt a little weird.

Sure, Halle had dated a couple of guys before, but...

Oh, who was she kidding? High school boyfriends didn't count at all.

Completely not used to being at a guy's place, _and_ being dressed in his clothes, Halle's cheeks remained a little red as she knocked on the door to the living room. Whether it was from embarrassment or the hot shower she just took, she didn't really know.

When no answer came from the door, Halle curiously pushed it open and peered inside. "Hanai, are you there?"

She cautiously entered the living room once more, but she didn't see Hanai anywhere. Where did he go? The cello music was still playing, and the apartment was undisturbed. Oh well, maybe she would just sit on the sofa until he came back or something...

As Halle crossed the room and motioned to sit down on the sofa, she gasped at what she saw.

Hanai was stretched out across the sofa dressed in his white button-up, black vest, red tie, and shoulder holster. His black jacket was cast aside, and his eyes were gently shut as Halle watched the slow rise and fall of his chest. His elbow was bent so that he was sleeping on his arm, and Halle couldn't help but think that he looked so cute when he was asleep. Innocent, like a little kid. She picked up her teacup from earlier from the coffee table and sat on the tiny spot of sofa Hanai had left unoccupied in front of his chest, being careful not to lean up against him too much to wake him up. There was an open can of beer on the table, and Halle figured he must have gotten sleepy after drinking it.

Halle smirked softly as she sipped her tea, and she looked down at her partner's face as she gently brushed a strand of his hair from his eyes. "You must've been really tired, huh?"

As Halle just sat there quietly with her dried bob-haircut naturally sweeping at her shoulders as she looked around the apartment, Hanai slowly began to stir and wake up.

"Mm...mm...huh...?" Seeming to sense her gaze, Hanai slowly opened his sleepy eyes. "You...?" He smiled when his eyes landed on Halle, still half asleep.

"Yeah." Halle grinned a little, sipping at her tea as she watched him slowly wake up. "It's me."

Hanai seemed to grow a little more alert, and he sat up a little. "Have you been here this whole time?"

"No." Halle shook her head, shaking her newly-dried spiky hair with it. "I just got out of the shower."

"Oh." Hanai smiled a little as if to relax himself, and he yawned sleepily as he sat up all of the way now. "Sorry...I guess I fell asleep." He grabbed the back of his neck as his cheeks flushed a little red, and he looked at her a little embarrassed.

Halle chuckled a little, not bothered by it at all. "You must be tired."

Hanai regained his bearings at her little comment. "I'm not the only one. You and everyone else in Second Unit are tired too." He picked up his can of beer and took a swig of it. "Do you want a beer?"

"No, I'm fine with just tea." Halle politely declined his offer. "Plus, I should probably be getting out of your way soon. It's late..." Her eyes fell on the clock that read fifteen past ten.

Hanai turned his head to the side a little, smiling handsomely at her. "You can do what you want, but I don't mind if you stay." He moved a little on the sofa to make more room for Halle to sit down. "Here, you can properly sit down now."

"Thanks." Halle laughed a little, repositioning herself from the edge of the sofa to move closer towards the middle of the cushion.

Halle made sure to leave a big enough space between the two of them as she sat down. If they were at the bar, she probably wouldn't be freaking out this much over sitting next to him. Actually, no. She was lying to herself; she would be nervous at the bar too. But, in the end, they were just pretending to be a couple for the case. Now, however, she was super-conscious of putting enough space between them.

Halle finished her tea and stood up from the sofa, checking the clock on her phone. "Hanai, I should probably be getting home."

Hanai nodded his head and stood up too, reaching for his phone. "Okay, I'll call you a taxi."

"Thank you. I really appreciate that." Halle smiled sweetly at him, grateful for his kindness.

"More importantly..." Hanai looked over at her, a little concerned as his mouth opened wide. "...do you have enough for cab fare?"

Halle wrinkled her nose up adorably at his innocent question. "Money really isn't a problem for me."

"I can lend you the cash..." Hanai started rummaging through his pocket for his wallet, and Halle just laughed and reached out her hand to stop him.

"No, Hanai, really." She smiled brightly and stopped him with her hand. "It's fine."

He smiled back, putting his wallet back into his pocket. "Okay."

Hanai called a taxi company for her, and they just stood together in the room silently as he talked with the operator on the phone. A few minutes later, Hanai wrapped up the call and hung up.

"The cab should be here in about five minutes." Hanai hung up his phone and looked over at her, acting as calm and cool as ever.

"Thank you." Halle expressed her gratefulness once more with a small smile. She picked up the bag with her dirty clothes in it, and she headed over towards the front door. When she saw herself in the wall mirror next to the door, she realized again just how ridiculous she looked, dressed in Hanai's giant shirt, shorts, and her black high heels. "I should dress like this _every_ day..." Halle sarcastically rolled her eyes, looking back at Hanai behind her.

Hanai practically snorted at her joke. "Don't worry about it. You just have to wear it for the taxi ride home."

"Yeah, but..." Halle self-consciously pulled at the shirt she was wearing, looking utterly embarrassed.

Hanai's face erupted into that big, cute smile of his as he laughed at her. "This outfit is totally 'you.'"

Halle dropped her jaw in shock, laughing a little as she scolded him. "That's so mean!" Hanai laughed a little at her pouty reaction, and Halle crossed her arms in a huff. "I'll wash the clothes I'm borrowing and get them back to you immediately."

Hanai's expression relaxed and returned to its normal state. "Okay. No rush."

Halle looked over her shoulder at the door, awkwardly trying to think of a proper way to say thank you. "I guess I'll get going. Again, thank you so much for everything."

Hanai just smiled and held the door open for her. "Get home safe. Good night."

"Good night." Halle waved good-bye to him as she stepped out the door, and she softly heard the door click shut behind her.

Halle stepped outside and found her taxi cab waiting for her, and she climbed inside and gave the driver her apartment building's address. After about a ten minute car ride, Halle quietly paid her cab fare and tried to navigate her way through her dark apartment complex, making sure not to wake anyone up. When she made it up to the third floor and found her apartment door, she pulled out her keys and quietly twisted them in the lock.

Halle pushed open the door quietly, and she smiled at the warm grin that was immediately waiting for her on the other side of the door. "I'm home!"

* * *

 **XD XD XD oh, my, GOSH. I loved this chapter. Halle is an awkward idiot, Hanai is hilarious and also very sweet, and... AHHHHH I LOVE FLUFF SOMETIMES.**

 **Okay, in all seriousness XD...the big question we've taken away from this chapter is the _ending_. Who was waiting for Halle at home? Was it Sam? A friend? Or maybe even a boyfriend? 0-0**

 **You'll just have to wait and see, I guess! No worries, the rest of Halle's secrets will all be revealed in due time, dear readers ;)**

 **Read, review, and enjoy~**


	17. Chapter 17

As the sun was just beginning to rise that next morning, Halle opened the door to the Second Unit office to find everyone huddled around the whiteboard.

Uh oh. This could _not_ be good...

"Bad news, Halle." Yachigusa turned around to face her, jogging over to the rookie detective. "Another letter came."

All of the blood drained from Halle's face as this all began to sink in. "Oh no..."

If another letter came, then...

Halle hurried over to the whiteboard to read the death threat, pushing her way through the guys to see the note. However, she was just too short and tiny, and she couldn't get close enough to see.

Hanai's eyebrows knitted together in anger as he analyzed the note. "The university's next."

"What university?" Halle impatiently looked up at her partner curiously, directing her question at Hanai since she couldn't see it herself. She pouted a little at her physical inadequacy.

"We don't know. Look." Hanai helped Halle squeeze through the crowd by briefly pushing her through the flock of detectives, getting her nose right up to the white board.

"Someone will be killed at a certain college within the next twenty-four hours...?" Halle read the note aloud, very confused by it, as her expression suggested.

Tennoji slammed his fist down on his desk in frustration, angrily shouting his concerns. "I can't even _count_ how many universities there are in Tokyo!"

"Plus..." Kyobashi butted in firmly, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "The last time he said within twenty-four hours, someone was attacked just hours later."

Asano's somber gaze was fixed on the floor as he said, "I've got a bad feeling about this..."

Hanai grew serious as he shot Kirisawa a look of intense concern. "Boss, we should request backup from every police jurisdiction containing a university."

Kirisawa looked understanding as he smiled sympathetically to Hanai with his cigarette in his mouth. "That's a good idea, but we'll be in trouble if our perp is able to sneak onto a campus."

The world all seemed to freeze and slowly proceed in slow motion as the office's phone rang, and everyone all looked panicked as they all shot each other that same knowing glance. Everyone had a particularly bad feeling about the news this phone call would bring, and their suspicions were not wrong.

"Yes, this is Special Investigations, Second Unit..." Yachigusa picked up the phone, and he listened carefully to the officer on the other end of the line. "Yes... Yes... _What!?"_

Kirisawa's face paled as he looked over at his detective worriedly. "Yachigusa, what is it?"

"This is bad..." Yachigusa grew uncharacteristically stern as a grave expression found its way to his face. "A college professor was attacked." He covered the receiver's mouthpiece as he answered.

"Aforementioned bad feeling... Verified." Asano sighed sharply, looking very glum and intensely worried for the new victim's sake.

Yachigusa hesitantly looked over at Hanai, waiting for some sort of reaction from him. "...the victim is Professor Shiina of Sokei University."

"What?" Hanai's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline as his stared at Yachigusa slack-jawed. "Did you say Professor Shiina?"

Kirisawa stared at Hanai unbelievably. "No way, Kazusa..."

Hanai sat down in his desk chair with a heavy thump, completely in shock and unable to accept this. "He was my mentor..."

"Hanai..." Halle immediately went to her partner's side, worriedly glancing at his shocked expression as she motioned to comfort him.

Yachigusa's face twinged with regret at being the bearer of bad news. "His life isn't in danger, but a letter was left at the scene of the crime."

"What?" Hanai suddenly looked up from his lap at the sound of that. "What kind of letter?"

"Hold on, I'm checking now." Yachigusa pressed the phone to his ear a little harder, listening. He asked the officer on the phone what the letter said, and his expression hardened as he received the news. "It says, _'that bomb was meant to take out everyone in Second Unit.'"_

"What the hell!?" Halle clenched her fists angrily, voicing her thoughts aloud.

Kyobashi glared at nothing in particular as he spoke. "So, he was aiming for _all_ of us that day..."

Tennoji awkwardly shifted his weight from one leg to the other, resting his hand on his hip as he stared down at his feet. "Looks that way..."

Asano seemed to be on par with what everyone else was thinking as he looked to Hanai. "A letter about the bombing was left at the scene of the stabbing."

"The same person is behind both." Hanai looked so incredibly distraught and out of it as he spoke, and that just worried Halle even more.

Halle looked completely horrified as she slowly rose her hands up to cover her mouth. "Oh my god..."

Hanai's gaze faltered as he somberly stared down at the floor. "But only people _I_ know are being targeted..." Everyone's eyes were on Hanai as his expression only grew more stern. "Matsudaira, Horikawa, Professor Shiina, and Second Unit..."

Halle bit down on her lip worriedly. She knew it wasn't just her imagination, but she didn't want to admit it either.

"Why...? Why aren't they aiming for me?" Hanai stared to lose it a little as he angrily shot up from his chair. "Why are they targeting the people around me!? Why!?" He suddenly kicked a nearby garbage can and sent it flying into the wall opposite of him, and Halle flinched as it made a loud banging noise.

"Hanai, get a grip!" Kirisawa instantly yelled at him, raising his voice unnaturally loud.

"Get a grip!?" Hanai whirled his head around as he glared at Kirisawa. "How am I supposed to be calm about this!?"

Halle's eyes grew wide with astonishment as she watched all of this. She had never seen Hanai so upset before, and she really hated to see him being torn apart so much by this case...

Hanai clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white. "The letter said within twenty-four hours, but by the time I'd laid eyes on the note, he was already close enough to kill the victim!" Hanai whirled around impossibly fast as he yelled at all of Second Unit. "How in the _hell_ was I supposed to stop him!?"

"That may be so, but it's still our job to figure out how to get this psycho!" Tennoji snapped back at Hanai, just as upset as he was.

Hanai only grew more and more pissed off with each passing second, and Tennoji's comment didn't exactly help. "Don't you think I know that!?"

Kirisawa quickly butted in-between the two. "Regardless, we need to flush this guy out before anyone else gets hurt."

"If both the same person is behind the stabbing and the bombing..." Tennoji looked straight at Halle, growing more tense with each passing second. "You remember anything else yet, Mitchell?"

Halle's eyes snapped wide open, and she backed up a little from being put on the spot like that. "Just the sweet smell, but..." She trailed off a little, looking off to the side of the room.

"What's up?" Tennoji asked her, a little more relaxed now as he addressed her.

Halle ran her fingers through her hair nervously. "I _do_ remember the perp's height... Short for a man, but average for a woman." She looked back at Tennoji, feeling kind of useless that she didn't remember more. "And one of the stabbing victims said the exact same thing."

Kirisawa sighed a little; his expression was tired, yet empathetic. "So our only clues are the perp's build and scent."

"Kazusa." Tennoji looked to Hanai, calling him out.

"What?" Hanai's eyes widened, not expecting his attention to be demanded so suddenly.

Tennoji didn't want to just come out and say it, but he had a hinting suspicion that Hanai could possibly know more about the perp than he realized. "You got any idea who this perp could be?"

Hanai narrowed his eyes a little at the question. "How could I?"

Tennoji squared his shoulders as he deadpanned, "you're connected to _all_ of the crimes." His face hardened a little as his ill-mannered temper seemed to resurface a little. "And, you're the only one connected to _all_ the victims."

Hanai just dropped his jaw at Tennoji's brusque remark, shocked a little by his forwardness. "If you think somebody's got it in for me, then just come out and say it!"

"That wouldn't be that hard to believe at this point." Although Tennoji was right, he could have worded it a little less harsh.

Hanai's eyes narrowed as he glared at Tennoji even harder. "What...!"

Tennoji interrupted him before Hanai could say any more. "We've gotta consider the possibility that someone's got a beef with you."

"How dare you!" Hanai took that offense personally, and he was practically shaking with anger at this point.

"Stop!" Kirisawa grabbed Hanai suddenly in attempt to keep him from jumping at Tennoji. "You too, Tennoji." He narrowed his eyes at the other detective too, equally placing the blame on him for this as well.

Tennoji just remained quiet, shamefully staring down at the floor.

Hanai had a similar expression on his face as he quietly spoke, "...I'm going to check out the crime scene." He shook off Kirisawa's arms and just walked right out of the Second Unit office, leaving his partner behind without another word.

"Er... I'd better go too." Halle awkwardly announced to the rest of the guys, and she hurried after Hanai.

As she pushed the door open, Kirisawa stopped her briefly. "Mitchell."

"Yes?" She stared at her boss, a little confused by his sudden action.

"Keep an eye on him for me." He simply smiled at her and retreated back to his desk, silently giving her permission to leave now.

Halle watched him go before nodding her head. "Okay."

She opened the door the rest of the way and left the office, and she bolted for the elevators. She caught up to Hanai just as he was walking out of the MPD building, and as soon as he saw her, he looked down.

"Leave me alone." Hanai muttered under his breath, but he knew she heard him.

Halle shook her head no, fiercely determined to stay by his side. "I can't do that."

"I said get away from me!" Hanai angrily snapped at her, narrowing his eyes in her direction.

 _"Great, he's really upset."_ Halle thought in annoyance to herself before she took a step closer to Hanai. "I can't do that. You _know_ I can't. Solo investigations are prohibited."

"I know that." Hanai glared off to the side at nothing in particular, knowing fully well that she was right, even though he was desperately hoping that she could be wrong just this one time.

Halle crossed her arms firmly over her chest. "So...don't go off all by yourself."

Hanai sighed a little, giving in as he stared down at the floor. "Can you just...be quiet for a little while?"

Halle nodded her head, and she started to walk alongside him. "...yeah." She stuffed her hands into her trench coat pockets, and she walked quickly to keep up with Hanai, watching over him from the side.

She couldn't comfort or encourage him right now. All she really _could_ do for him was let him be, and that was exactly what Halle was going to do.

* * *

Halle didn't leave his side, but she tried to give the irritated Hanai his space as best as she could. They didn't speak at all as they quietly walked down the sidewalk together.

Halle looked at her partner's sullen face, worried beyond comprehension. _"...I'll just wait until he's ready to talk. That's all I can really do right now."_ She made up her mind on what she would do inside her head, keeping that thought to herself as she walked along.

When they arrived at the university where Hanai's mentor had been attacked, it was Hanai's alma mater, one of the most well-respected universities in the country. The crime scene was cordoned off with yellow tape and was currently being guarded by uniformed police.

Hanai approached the scene with a stern look on his face, flashing his badge to gain access. "I'm Detective Kazusa Hanai with the MPD's Special Investigations. I'd like to take a look inside."

"Go ahead, Sir." One of the policemen guarding the door stepped to the side, permitting Hanai access. They let Halle pass through when she flashed her badge as well, and the two detectives went in to view the crime scene.

The walls of the professor's office were lined with books, and books and papers were piled up on his desk as well. Still fresh blood stains streaked across the floor, and Hanai's eyes looked nostalgic, yet painfully tired as they surveyed the room.

"Detective Hanai." One of the officers brought a young girl dressed in a lab coat up to Hanai and Halle. "This is Professor Shiina's assistant."

"Hello." Hanai smiled politely as he shook the student's hand. "I'm Detective Kazusa Hanai."

"I'm Professor Shiina's assistant, Suzuki." She introduced herself, and she grinned brightly at Hanai when she heard him say his name. "I've heard your name before!"

"Oh..." Hanai looked surprised as his eyebrows both shot up into his hairline.

"The professor talked about you quite often." She smiled a little, nodding her head.

"About me?" This was clearly news to Hanai, based on his reaction. It was his first time hearing about his mentor bragging about him to his students.

"Yes." Suzuki nodded her head decisively. "He said you were one of his most gifted students. You left quite an impression."

Hanai didn't say a word as his lips drew into a thin line. There was no doubt that his mentor bragging about him like that is what nearly got him killed this morning.

Suzuki continued to relay what the professor used to say with a bright grin on her face, glad that she finally got to meet the man she had heard so much about. "He said that you'd always been concerned with social justice, and that you were always focused on protecting those who couldn't protect themselves. He's really proud of your work with the MPD."

Hanai stared down at the floor, looking completely sullen and exhausted. "...I see." He nodded to the assistant and cleared his throat suddenly to segue into his next topic. "I know this is fast, but I'd like you to tell me about what you saw this morning."

Halle instantly took out her pen, ready to take notes.

"The professor was in his office getting ready for his first class." Suzuki pressed her finger to her lips, trying hard to remember the events of this morning. Everything happened so quickly. "There was still time before class, so I left to go get him coffee. I found him collapsed on the floor when I came back into the room..." The image of the professor's blood everywhere flashed before her mind a little, and she winced at the memory.

"How long did it take you to get the coffee?" Hanai asked, trying to establish a time-frame.

Suzuki thought about it for a moment before she gave her answer. "About...ten minutes, give or take?"

Hanai nodded his head as Halle wrote everything the girl said down in her notepad. "Do you know how many students are in the professor's first class?"

"About thirty." Suzuki nodded her head.

"That's not very many." Hanai seemed surprised by this answer, which Suzuki picked up on.

"It's an early morning class." Suzuki jumped back into the conversation, elaborating a little. "Not very many students sign up for it because of that."

Hanai narrowed his gaze as he became lost within thought. "How about other professors' first period classes?"

Suzuki shook her head no. "We're the only first period class for this day of the week."

Hanai dejectedly looked down off to the side, frowning a little. "So that means..." He made a face like he was thinking, and he glanced over in Halle's direction. "The perp knew that there wouldn't be many people around this morning, and planned the attack around that information."

Halle wrote everything down, staring back at Hanai once she finished. "Unfortunately, that's likely the case..."

Hanai nodded his head, agreeing with her as he turned back to Suzuki. "Did you notice anyone suspicious this morning?"

"Well..." She thought about it for a moment, pressing a finger to her lips once more. "A student I'd never seen before knocked on the office door."

Hanai was more alert now that they were finally getting somewhere. "Can you describe the student's build?"

"Not too tall, I guess." Suzuki shrugged her shoulders, not really remembering much about the person she had seen.

"Male or female?" Hanai cautiously prodded her, hoping she would provide a missing piece to the puzzle: the perp's gender.

Suzuki sighed a little in disappointment. "I can't be sure. His hat cast a shadow on his face, and he was dressed in all black."

"Hanai..." Halle looked up from her notepad at her partner after hearing Suzuki's testimony, thinking that it sounded just like everyone else's they interviewed.

"I know." Hanai nodded his head to her, then looked back at Suzuki. "Was this person carrying any kind of bag?"

"I think he had a messenger bag." Suzuki blinked a few times, thinking back on it as she shrugged her shoulders again. "His clothes were casual, so I assumed he was a student."

Hanai nodded his head conclusively, turning to face his partner. "No doubt about it. It's the same person."

"Definitely." Halle agreed with him, frowning all the way.

"Can you remember anything else about that person?" Hanai looked back at Suzuki, remaining at Halle's side.

"Sorry." Suzuki shook her head no. "I didn't notice any other specific details."

Once they finished talking to Suzuki, Halle and Hanai questioned the other students and professors. Any other information given to them was either, "I didn't see anything," or it corresponded with Suzuki's testimony. Unfortunately, even though they spent the next several hours investigating the crime scene, they were unable to turn up any more clues. Plus, they found out that Professor Shiina's schedule is posted in his department's office, which anyone could see if they checked it.

All they turned up were more and more dead ends, and their lack of progress was eating Hanai alive.

* * *

As they arrived back at the MPD and got into the elevator, the doors had barely closed when Hanai suddenly slammed his fist into the metal wall. _Hard._

Halle nearly jumped out of her skin from the sudden cacophony, and she looked over at her partner worriedly. "Hanai!?"

It looked like he didn't know where to direct his anger, and he glanced at her apologetically. "Sorry." Hanai's gaze remained downturned to the floor, and he spoke in a whisper so low that Halle could barely hear him.

Halle looked over at her partner worriedly as the elevator arrived at the seventh floor, and she came to a conclusion about Hanai after witnessing his behavior over the past week.

This case wasn't just eating him alive.

It was completely _destroying_ him.

* * *

 **Yikes... Hanai's taking this hard. I mean, if that were me, I would too. All of your friends and people you care about are being attacked, and not only can you do nothing about it, but the person doing all of this is leaving no clues behind? Yeah, that would drive me insane.**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


	18. Chapter 18

The two detectives stepped from the elevator and began making their way over to the Second Unit office, and Halle nervously flitted around Hanai the whole time, keeping an eye on him. He just punched a _wall_ for God's sake, so it was safe to say that Halle had every right to be worried. Hanai's expression remained the same serious one he always wore, and as soon as they both walked into the office, he went straight to Kirisawa's desk.

"Mitchell, give me your notes." Hanai put up a front as he looked over at her, extending his hand towards her as he looked completely normal once more.

Halle frowned a little as she saw right through him, seeing how her partner was _really_ feeling right now. "Okay...here." She handed him her notebook, standing beside him at Kirisawa's desk.

As soon as he got her notes, he began running down the day's events to Kirisawa. One by one, everyone began returning to the office, having finished up their individual investigations. But, as soon as Yachigusa walked into the office, he came up behind Halle and clapped her on the shoulder like he would do to one of the guys.

"Hey, Halle, you're back!" Yachigusa grinned brightly, then looked over at Hanai as well. "Hey, Kazusa!"

Kyobashi walked up to the three of them, joining in on the conversation. "This is the first time in the history of Second Unit that we've come across such a long series of crimes and found so little evidence."

Asano couldn't agree more as he somberly looked down at the floor. "There goes our good reputation..."

Tennoji crossed his arms tightly over his chest, frowning hard to accurately express his displeasure. "That asshole is probably laughin' at us as we speak."

Kyobashi sighed a little, adjusting his glasses tediously. "At this rate, we're just waiting for the next victim to show up."

Hanai immediately stopped what he was saying to Kirisawa as he slowly turned to glare at Kyobashi. "Kyobashi, what did you just say...?"

The guys all fell silent the second Hanai turned around to glare daggers at everyone, instantly aware of what exactly Kyobashi had just said.

Kyobashi's collected demeanor did not falter, even after seeing Hanai's glare. "The perp is out on the streets, and we don't have any leads. I'm just worried that there could be another stabbing."

Hanai's whole expression grew angry as he glared at Kyobashi. "If you're so worried, then do something about it!"

"I'm not happy about this guy being out there either!" The eternally calm Kyobashi started to grow agitated, and he wasn't the only one in the room starting to feel that way.

Tennoji looked up from his desk, looking over at Hanai casually. "Hey, Kazusa. Don'tcha think it's weird that no matter how much we investigate, we can't turn up one useful clue?"

"It's not _weird."_ Hanai instantly snapped at him, completely disagreeing with his opinion. "It just means that we're missing something."

"An androgynous figure always wearing black and caring a paper bag with a knife." Asano thought aloud, slowly looking up to meet Hanai's furious glower, not intimidated by it at all. "We've been going around in _circles..."_

Hanai completely lost his cool at this point, and he glared at Asano as he rose his voice. "If you think we're going in circles, then get out there and find the guy!"

"The perp left behind enough evidence, but there's nothing to connect the dots at all..." Kyobashi let out a heavy sigh, staring down at the material he was reading on his desk as he stressfully combed his fingers through his hair. "And you know that just as well as I do, don't you, Hanai?" He looked up and directly matched Hanai's gaze, bravely enduring a stare-down with the upset detective.

Hanai's whole jaw seemed to tense up as he continued shouting. "If you can't connect the dots, then that's _your_ problem!"

Hanai wasn't the only one annoyed with their lack of progress. _Everyone_ was frustrated and on their last nerves; he was just the first to say it.

"Let's be real, though." Tennoji extended his hand out to point at Hanai. "The perp is probably someone close to you."

Hanai's pissed off aura seemed to fade into one that of shock as he blinked back his surprise. "What...?"

Tennoji nodded his head as if to reiterate his point. "Yeah. It's gotta be someone closer to you than any of us would expect, and that's why we're not connecting the dots on this one."

"...so you're trying to say that _I'm_ the one behind the stabbings." Yachigusa straight-faced that comment, looking at everyone seriously as he tried to lighten the mood with a joke.

Hanai suddenly grabbed Yachigusa by the shirt, blowing a fuse. "Eiki!"

Yachigusa looked a little shocked by Hanai's sudden outburst. "I-it was a joke..."

"This is no _time_ for jokes!" Hanai's brow knitted together furiously as he gripped Yachigusa's shirt tighter.

"S-sorry..." Yachigusa opened his mouth, apologetically shaking his head back and forth. "It's just that everyone was so on edge, I just..."

Hanai took in one deep breath, shutting his eyes momentarily as he released Yachigusa from his choke hold. "Just...try to be a little less oblivious to the situation around you, okay?"

Tennoji scoffed a little at Hanai's hypocrisy. "Same goes for you, Kazusa." He suddenly stood up from his desk, glaring over at the brunette from where he stood. "Can't you see what your messed up attitude is doing to everyone!?"

"What?" Hanai's eyebrows shot up into his hairline, and he stared at Tennoji so shocked that you could have sworn he had just been shot or something. He suddenly crossed the room to get up in Tennoji's face as his anger began to bubble over.

"And you call yourself a _detective!"_ Tennoji just kept going, growing more and more frustrated with Hanai's bullshit with each passing second.

"T-Tennoji..." Halle awkwardly tried to say something, trying to stick up from her partner, despite feeling a little nervous about witnessing yet _another_ tense fight.

Halle winced every time someone said something hurtful to the other, having grown up around several arguments just like it. This was all just too close to home, and she had to resist the urge to either yell and shut everyone up, or make a run for it and dash out of this room. This argument was making her _very_ uncomfortable, and it reminded her of all the horrible fights she got into with her mother as a kid...

"What'd you say?" Hanai's eyes grew stone-cold, and he flattened his lips into a thin line.

"I'm sayin' that a case is a case." Tennoji was face-to-face with Hanai now as he angrily barked at him. "Cool your head and be professional!"

Halle dropped her jaw in shock, and Hanai's expression intensified once more as his voice got even louder now. "Are you trying to say that I'm not calm!?"

"Yeah. Cool it down." Tennoji lowered both his voice and his gaze; his expression grew stone-cold as he spoke. "You're getting all worked up like an _amateur."_

"What?" Hanai flinched back a little at Tennoji's criticism, taking the "amateur" comment especially hard.

Tennoji sighed bitterly, sharply barking his thoughts at Hanai once more. "A professional doesn't let feelings get in the way of doin' the job!"

Hanai had practically been punched in the chest, and the wind had been knocked out of him as his eyes slowly widened. "Wha..."

"For fuck's _sake_ , would you just shut _up_ already!?"

Everyone looked completely bewildered as they stared at the tiny and adorable Halle, who had suddenly just _completely_ lost her cool and selflessly ran in-between the two detectives, angrily shouting at Tennoji with a dark and dangerous expression on her face.

"The hell...?" Tennoji angrily glared at the little girl standing before him, completely confused. "This doesn't have anything to do with you, Mitchell. Move it!"

Halle just couldn't listen to this anymore, and she wasn't about to let this fight continue. "No!" She shouted right back at him, only confusing the red-haired detective even further. "I'm not going anywhere!"

"Mitchell, stop." Hanai glared at his partner's back, feeling more over-protective towards her than angry right now. He didn't want Halle getting in the middle of this fight.

"No!" Halle yelled back at Hanai, who stood right behind her, continuing to glare harshly at Tennoji. "How is Hanai supposed to be calm when you are all _attacking_ him!?"

Tennoji narrowed his eyes at her. "Whad'you say?"

"This isn't about being professional or not!" Halle snapped at him, balling her hands into tight fists.

Tennoji's whole face erupted into an angry expression. "You got something to say to me!?" He glared down at her, and despite his intimidatingly harsh stare, Halle refused to look away.

"Yeah, I do, and I'm saying it right now!" Halle stood firmly in her spot, glaring at Tennoji as hard as she could.

"Hey, enough." Kirisawa snapped his fingers, butting into the argument in attempt to dissolve it. "Yachigusa, go make everyone coffee."

Yachigusa awkwardly shot Halle and Tennoji a worried glance before he crossed the room over to the coffee maker. "...okay."

Kirisawa took in one deep breath, understanding how everyone felt, despite the calm look on his face. "Drink your coffee and work on your daily debriefs." He stared at everyone quizzically for a moment before speaking again. "What are you all waiting for? Sit down."

At Kirisawa's words, the guys all quietly sat down. Well, everyone except Yachigusa, who was making coffee, and Hanai...

Hanai just turned his back to everyone and headed straight for the door.

Halle stared at his back in shock, very confused as to where he was going, since it was time for everyone to do their daily debriefs. "Hanai..." Before she even knew what she was doing, Halle stopped Hanai's hand with her own as he went to turn the doorknob.

Hanai kept his gaze on the door for a moment before he shot her a quick, tiny smile. "...you handle today's debrief."

Halle stared at him owlishly before she found herself slowly nodding her head. "Okay...

"Just in case he comes back..." Yachigusa walked over to Hanai's desk as the brunette left the room, placing a cup of steaming black coffee on it.

"Well then, let's start." Kirisawa clapped his hands together, commanding all attention.

As the debrief meeting began, they all reported one by one on how their investigations were progressing. Everyone's gathered information seemed to correspond with each other's, and they found themselves arriving at more dead ends. Hanai was gone for the whole meeting, and Halle couldn't stop worrying about him the whole time.

* * *

After running an errand somewhere else in the MPD building, Halle began climbing up the stairs back up to the seventh floor. That fight earlier really just made her lose it, and she just felt so...weird. She hated fights, but even though she wasn't the one being attacked back in there, she felt like she had to say something.

And she had no idea why she felt that way.

"Halle."

Halle paused walking up the stairs at her name being called, and she turned around to see Yachigusa standing right there. "Oh, Eiki. Hi!"

She waited for him to catch up to her on the stairs, and once he did, they continued to walk up the stairs together side-by-side.

Yachigusa frowned a little as he stared down at the ground. "I upset Kazusa with what I said earlier..." He looked uncharacteristically depressed as he reflected on his poor actions, and it made Halle's heart ache to see the lovable puppy so upset. "I shouldn't have been joking at a time like that."

Halle shook her head comprehensively, and she patted Yachigusa's arm. "Eiki, Hanai knows that you didn't mean anything bad by what you said."

Yachigusa seemed to cheer up a little at Halle's reassurance, but he still did not smile at all as he looked ahead. "I hope so. By the way..." He suddenly stopped climbing the stairs, turning to the girl detective. "I was really surprised when you went at Yutaka the way you did."

Halle's cheeks flushed a little in embarrassment. "I kind of just...snapped. I'm sorry."

Yachigusa just chuckled a little under his breath, shaking his head at her. "It might just be me spit-balling here, but you had this look on your face that suggested you were really familiar with fights like that."

Halle's expression darkened and she looked down at the floor, and her light brown bob swung in front of her face a little as she did so. "Yeah... I know what getting yelled at like that feels like all too well."

"Whoa, Halle..." Yachigusa's eyebrows shot up into his hairline at her sudden change in mood, and he slowly reached out to gently take hold of Halle's arms in his hands. "I'm sorry... If it's a sensitive subject, I really didn't mean to pry."

"No, it's fine." Halle shrugged him off casually, looking up and off to the side. "I guess you could say that I'm just used to having horrible things like that screamed at me. I just couldn't stand to see it happen to Hanai, and I...snapped."

"What?" Yachigusa shook his head a little, trying to understand what she was talking about. "Halle, who yells at you? No one in Second Unit is picking on you, are they? Or First Unit!?"

"No, nothing like that!" Halle's whole face lit up in surprise as she defensively waved her hands back and forth in front of her face. "It's just...my mother. She was the one who verbally abused me almost constantly as a kid, and she still does even _now..."_ She looked down at the ground once more, feeling as if her spirit had just suddenly been _crushed._

"Your mother?" Yachigusa tilted his head to the side, a little confused. "Halle, are you okay? What happened?"

Halle stuffed her hands into her pockets dejectedly. "It's fine. I'm used to it, I guess." She looked off to the side of the stairwell, staring blankly out of a sunny window. "She would just always yell at me for any reason she could possibly think of, claiming that I was a problem child, and I was nothing but a disappointment to her."

Yachigusa was completely stunned by this, shaken to the bone. "What kind of mother does that to her own child...?"

 _"My_ mother." Halle retraced her dead stare back to Yachigusa, looking at him straight in the eyes. "She is quite possibly the most terrible person I have ever met." She lowered her voice to an almost inaudible level as she stared down at the floor. "I _hate_ her..."

Yachigusa slumped his shoulders as a somber expression found its way to his face, and he felt like he could feel Halle's horrible pain. "I'm so sorry, Halle..." He instinctively reached out to hug her, wanting to take away that frown on her face and make her smile again. "Why did she yell at you so much, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Because I'm not the daughter she _wants_ me to be." Halle rested her chin on Yachigusa's shoulder, allowing him to hug her and support her weight for just a moment. "I'm _supposed_ to be this proper young lady living at home, going out on dates with men my mother thinks are suitable matches for me. She _hates_ the fact that I'm a detective now, instead of working for the family business like she wanted me to, and I'm not just some doormat that she can walk all over..."

"What's the family business?" Yachigusa asked, a little curious to know more.

"What _isn't_ the family business..." Halle rolled her eyes, sighing a little as she pulled away from Yachigusa. She was thankful he didn't get to see her expression as she dodged his question.

Yachigusa frowned a little as he looked at her, worriedly crossing his arms over his chest. "Halle, have you told Kazusa any of this?"

"Not really..." Halle's eyes widened involuntarily, surprised by Yachigusa's unexpected question. "Why? Should I?"

"Yeah." Yachigusa nodded his head a little as he spoke. "It's important that partners on the force know everything about each other. When push comes to shove, if you two ever got in a dangerous situation, Kazusa is the one that has your back, and you need to make sure you have his."

"That makes sense..." Halle sighed a little, dejectedly staring down at the floor as she was already beginning to dread this conversation with her partner. "I guess I'll tell him next time I see him."

"Good." Yachigusa smiled a little, but he suddenly opened his mouth when a thought popped into his head. "Oh, and, speaking of Kazusa..."

"What is it, Eiki?" Halle blinked owlishly at him, ushering him to continue.

Yachigusa awkwardly twisted the corner of his lips up into an odd smile. "It's about his fight with Yutaka earlier..."

"Oh." Halle bit her lower lip at the mention of said fight, and her anger towards Tennoji slowly came rushing back.

"You probably don't know this yet, but Kazusa and Yutaka are rivals." Yachigusa tried to explain their relationship a little, struggling to do so as he sweatdropped.

"Rivals?" Halle blinked back her shock, feeling that anger she had once felt suddenly snap and disappear into thin air.

"Yeah." Yachigusa grinned a little as he spoke highly of his friends. "Yutaka was the the top case-closer in Osaka, so they moved him up to Tokyo."

Halle ran a hand through her hair as she listened to this. "Oh, I didn't know that..."

Yachigusa just nodded his head as he continued. "Kazusa used to hold the record for the highest number of cases closed, but Yutaka took the top spot from him."

"...so they became rivals?" Halle tried to understand what he was saying, starting to get it now.

"Yeah..." Yachigusa frowned a little, staring down at the ground as he jammed his hands into his jeans pockets. "They're always competing with each other. So, when Yutaka told Kazusa that, _'a pro doesn't let feelings get in the way,'_ I was pretty worried. I thought they were going to come to blows."

"They hate each other _that_ much...?" Halle looked stunned as she craned her neck forwards a little, listening to Yachigusa carefully.

"Well, I wouldn't call it _hate."_ Yachigusa awkwardly grabbed at the back of his neck, grinning at her sheepishly. "It's just that they're each very self-conscious when it comes to the other. They're just being immature, Halle."

"Hanai? Immature?" Halle scoffed a little as she whispered under her breath, "I think this is the first I've ever seen _that..."_

"...but I really like Kazusa and Yutaka." Yachigusa's bright smiled drew Halle's attention back to him once more. "I've learned a lot from both of them."

"Yeah..." Halle mumbled, quietly staring off at the wall lost in thought. "Me too."

* * *

When they both returned to Second Unit's office, Hanai was still nowhere to be seen. The cup of coffee was still sitting on his desk completely untouched, and the steam that had once been rising from it was now gone.

"He's _still_ not back...?" Halle mumbled to herself as she sat down at her desk, staring at Hanai's desk that sat right next to hers somberly.

"Eiki, let's go." Kyobashi walked up and clapped Yachigusa on the shoulder, ushering him towards the door. "Time to question some witnesses."

"Okay." Yachigusa smiled and turned to leave with Kyobashi, waving good-bye to Halle as he did so. "See you later, Halle!"

"Later!" Halle waved back to him, watching the door close behind the two detectives mechanically. Once Kyobashi and Yachigusa had left, Halle couldn't help but notice that the Second Unit office felt so empty without them. " _Hanai, where did you go...?"_ She frowned immensely, keeping her thoughts to herself.

She awkwardly darted her eyes back and forth between the three detectives left: Asano, Tennoji, and Kirisawa, who were all quietly working at their desks. Halle didn't really have much else to do, so she just sat there for a few minutes, killing time by checking her texts and emails on her phone.

...

Agh, she couldn't take much more of this!

Anxiously, Halle stood up from her desk and left the office once more, in need of some fresh air. She remembered that one time Yachigusa had brought her up to the roof, and that was exactly where she was now heading. As Halle opened the door to the roof, she froze, noticing who else was up here with her.

Hanai.

Hanai stood at the railing with his hands in his pockets, staring off into the distance and looking on towards the sunset. He seemed lost within his own thoughts, not really looking at anything in particular.

Halle figured that she should probably leave him alone, and just as she was about to turn to leave, Hanai happened to look in her direction and immediately spotted her just standing there and awkwardly staring at him.

Halle quietly cursed to herself as she found herself having been spotted. She couldn't just _leave_ now that they had made eye contact, and she found that her feet had a mind of their own as they slowly carried her over to where Hanai stood. Hanai kept his eyes fixed on her as she walked over to him, looking completely serious and stern. Halle stopped when she finally came to stand right in front of Hanai, and they both looked at each other for a moment without saying anything.

Halle _wanted_ to comfort and encourage him, and there were so many things that she wanted to say to him, but she didn't say anything at all as she just looked up at his face.

"Hanai, I..." Just as Halle began to think out loud that she wouldn't be able to express what she was feeling in words, Hanai took a step towards her and cut her off. "...Whoa!"

Halle involuntarily yelped in shock as Hanai took both hands out of his pockets and suddenly enveloped her in a warm embrace. She felt like she might stop breathing at the unexpected hug, because it felt like she was being kindly, gently wrapped up in his warm arms. She could feel the heat from his body as their cheeks lightly brushed against one another, and Halle's whole face was flushed red in embarrassment.

This hug was _very_ different than the hug Yachigusa had given her earlier.

"H-Hanai..." Halle awkwardly spoke up, trying to get out of his grip, and yet at the same time not.

Hanai didn't say a word as he continued to hold her, never moving an inch. His embrace was neither tight nor loose, and Halle couldn't speak at all. All she could do was exist right there in his arms, because for once, her partner had rendered her completely and utterly speechless.

Halle suddenly felt Hanai touch her arm as his cheek pulled away from hers, and their eyes met for a millisecond before Hanai averted his gaze and began to walk away.

"W-what..." Halle mumbled to herself as she watched his tall form walk away. "What just _happened_...?" She thoughtfully brought her hand up to touch the cheek that had once been resting against Hanai's, blushing intensely just at the mere _thought_ of it.

And, as Hanai left the rooftop, Halle's unspoken question was not answered.

* * *

When Halle returned to the Second Unit office, Kirisawa, Hanai, and Tennoji were all there, and they all were looking at her as soon as she walked in.

"Mitchell, we need to talk." Kirisawa took a puff of his cigarette, staring at Halle unnervingly.

Halle's whole face seemed to pale as she had one of those moments of panic every kid has when they're called down to the office in school. "...what's going on?"

Kirisawa opened his mouth to speak, and he hesitated a little as his whole demeanor grew very serious. "Hanai's been taken off the stabbing case."

Halle was rendered completely unresponsive as she just stared at her boss with the biggest eyes she could possibly make. "W-wh...what?"

Hanai looked at her without saying anything, and he immediately averted his gaze back to the floor when he saw her shoot him a questioning stare.

"It's an order from Nomura." Kirisawa frowned a little, not looking too happy about this either. "I have to go along with it."

The image of Nomura flashed before Halle's mind as she spoke. "Oh, Nomura was the man who was here before..."

"He's the captain in charge of this unit." Tennoji butted in to explain, looking pretty relaxed and not mad at all as he looked at the girl detective he had just been arguing with earlier. "He founded Special Investigations."

Halle looked completely shell-shocked at this news. Nomura _founded_ Special Investigations!? Holy...

"He wants to take Hanai off the case." Kirisawa snapped Halle out of her thoughts again with the bad news, frowning all the way.

Halle's shoulders slumped as she felt herself being heavily weighed down by this. "It was a direct _order_...?"

"Yeah." Kirisawa relaxed a little as a sympathetic, understanding smile crossed his face. "He was worried that it was becoming too much of a problem for the rest of us."

Halle felt like she had just been shot from listening to this horrible news, and she just stood there in silence as her face paled.

Kirisawa sighed a little at the look on her face as he continued. "...so that means that you and Hanai are no longer partners."

Now _that_ got a reaction out of Halle. "What!?" Her face flared up in anger as she involuntarily snapped at her boss, raising her voice a little. "I've been taken off the case too!?"

"Oh, no." Kirisawa shook his head, elaborating a little. "You'll still be working the stabbing case, just with Tennoji. And you two will be investigating other cases together as well."

Tennoji and Halle both had matching looks of horror on their faces as they exchanged a glance with each other, then both of them simultaneously shouted, "WHAT!?"

"Boss, gimme a _break."_ Tennoji looked completely pissed off by this news, and he rested his hand on one of his hips. "I do _not_ want to be paired up with some woman. She's only gonna get in my way!"

"Hey!" Halle yelled at him, looking completely offended. "I'm not exactly happy about this either, but you don't have to be rude about it!"

"Tennoji." Kirisawa firmly glared over at him, reprimanding him calmly.

"She's just gonna mess up the investigation..." Tennoji looked a little intimidated by his boss's glare, and his eyes flickered down to the floor. "I'd be better off tryin' to get by on my own."

Kirisawa lost his cool as he angrily glowered at his detective, raising his voice loudly. "You know just as well as I do that this investigation will not work if you two don't pretend to be a couple!"

"A _couple_...!?" Halle suddenly choked on nothing but air, glaring accusingly at Tennoji for a moment before she turned around to storm off. "Oh, _fuck_ this...!"

Tennoji rolled his eyes, reached out, grabbed the little girl detective's head, and promptly turned her around and stop her from leaving. Halle pouted and crossed her arms over her chest as she found herself unable to leave, standing next to Tennoji and directly facing Kirisawa once again.

"It's for purposes of the investigation, Mitchell." Kirisawa smiled a little at his foul-mouthed newbie, finding her language so much more amusing because she was such a petite young woman. "I'd like you to pretend to be Tennoji's girlfriend."

Halle smiled sweetly to her boss, tilting her head to the side innocently as she locked eyes with him. "I would rather swallow a box of nails."

Hanai nearly spit out his coffee at that, smiling a little for the first time today from his partner's...er, _ex_ partner's constant bitter and sassy attitude.

"Oi!" Tennoji glared over at her, resenting that comment. "I ain't that bad!"

Halle smiled and shut her eyes lightly as she gritted her teeth together, muttering under her breath, "I beg to differ..."

Kirisawa tried not to laugh at Halle's snide remarks, finding them to be rather amusing as he just looked straight ahead at the two detectives. "I'll debrief you two on the case tomorrow. It's late, so you should probably be getting home soon."

Halle just sighed deeply as she crossed over to her desk and began collecting her things. After all, she really _did_ need to get home soon...

She exchanged an awkward, brief glance with Hanai before he looked away from her again, and in that distracting millisecond, Halle got up from her desk and motioned to leave the office while forgetting one very important thing.

Her phone still remained lying on her desk, waiting there untouched and forgotten for what was perhaps the very first time in Halle's life.

* * *

Later that same night...

Hanai held his partner's... _ex_ partner's cell phone in his hands tightly as he walked down the familiar hallway of her apartment complex. Halle was always frequently checking this thing, so how on _Earth_ did she manage to forget it at the office...? He had no idea, but Halle must have been really distracted or something if she was able to leave her phone behind. Hanai figured she'd be a mess without it once she noticed it was gone, so he thought to swing by her place real quick on his way home and drop it off. What was the harm, anyways? It's not like she would be asleep at nine o'clock at night; it was still a bit early.

Hanai remembered where she lived from that one time he drove her home after that drug bust case at Johoku University, and he smiled fondly at the silly memory as he passed Sam's apartment, 323B. He stopped in front of the apartment door that read 324B, and he reached out to knock on her door with the back of his knuckles.

Hanai listened to the sound of his knock resonate within the small apartment, and he could tell that she heard it, because he could hear the sound of scurrying footsteps that were quickly approaching the door to answer it.

"Mitchell, you left your..." Hanai opened his mouth to speak as the door began to open, but he was left completely speechless by who answered it.

"...who are you?"

Hanai stared owlishly at the adorable little girl that stood before him with light, bright blonde hair like an angel, which was curly and just barely passed her shoulders. She had the exact same odd raspberry-colored eyes as Halle, and the girl looked like she couldn't have been any older than seven years old.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Hanai backtracked a little, and he felt embarrassed that he made a mistake. "I must have the wrong apartment..."

But his thoughts were quickly cut off by the sound of someone rushing around the corner of the apartment, and Hanai stared at the woman who met up with the little girl at the door in bewilderment, who then rested her hand on the door frame as she stared down at the little girl.

"Ellie, what did I tell you? Don't answer the door until I..." Halle Mitchell's eyes grew wide with horror as she stared at Hanai in recognition, and she felt a sinking feeling quickly find its way to the pit of her stomach. "...Hanai?"

* * *

 **DUHN DUHN DUHN. I'm not even going to explain anything; I'm going to torture you guys with this cliffhanger and let you jump to conclusions as you impatiently wait for the next chapter to come out that will explain everything XDDD I'm so mean, I know...**

 **Read, review, and enjoy the story!**


	19. Chapter 19

The world seemed to have come to a complete stop as Halle and Hanai stared at each other awkwardly from where they were standing. Ellie stood in-between them with a bright smile on her face, and she amusedly looked back and forth between their funny faces innocently.

"Mommy, who is this?" Ellie tugged on the hem of Halle's shirt, looking at Hanai curiously.

The word "mommy" hit Hanai like a truck as Halle embarrassingly stared down at her daughter. "Er... Ellie, this is mommy's partner from work, Hanai."

The cute little blonde girl whirled back around and stuck out her hand to Hanai, ushering him to shake it. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Hanai! I'm Ellie Mitchell!"

Hanai was still trying to process this as he stiffly shook the little girl's hand. "Uh... Hi."

Halle was stunned that the always calm and cool Hanai was caught off guard for once, and if she wasn't completely embarrassed about him finding out the truth about her little "family" situation, she'd probably be very amused by it right now.

"Um..." Halle took a step back from the door, holding it open for him. "Hanai, come on in. Let's talk inside."

Hanai nodded his head and smiled down at Ellie, starting to regain his cool a little bit as he stepped through the door. "Alright..."

Ellie came prancing in the apartment behind Hanai, looking completely amazed by the older guy she just met. She grinned at him innocently, looking completely adorable, and her smile seemed to help set Hanai at ease.

"Have a seat." Halle ushered Hanai over to the kitchen table, and she turned around and crouched down to face her daughter at eye-level. "Ellie, go get in your pajamas. It's time for bed."

"Aww..." Ellie pouted as she tore her gaze from her mother, looking over at Hanai at the kitchen table. "But I wanted to talk to Mr. Hanai some more..."

Halle tilted her head to the side, looking extremely tired and worn out a little as she quietly sighed. "You can talk to him later. Just go do as you're told for now."

"Alright..." Ellie wiped the disappointment from her face with a little smile, and she skipped across the floor and disappeared down the hallway in pursuit of her bedroom.

Which now left Hanai and Halle alone.

Halle stood up slowly with her back kept to Hanai, and she felt her whole body stiffen as she cautiously turned around to face him. "Ah, so... Why are you here, exactly?"

"Who do you think I am? I'm not stalking you." Hanai shot her that typical, cocky smile of his. "You forgot this, dummy." He held up her cell phone between two of his fingers, and he laughed as he watched her face erupt into a huge look of surprise.

"My phone!" Halle grabbed it from him immediately, standing next to him as he remained seated at the table. "Oh, man... I didn't even notice I left it."

"I kinda figured." Hanai smirked wryly at her, and he slowly approached the uncomfortable subject that they were inevitably going to have to talk about. "So... You're a mom?"

"Yeah..." Halle smiled awkwardly, running a hand through her hair as she looked at Hanai. "Well, sorta. Biologically speaking, she's not my daughter. She's my brother's."

...

"...what?" Hanai shot her a weird look, not really following this.

If Ellie wasn't _really_ Halle's biological daughter, then why did she call her 'mom?'

"Let me explain..." Halle chuckled a little at the look on Hanai's face, and she pulled up a chair to sit right next to him. "My older brother Brad is Ellie's biological father, and her mother was a kind woman named Meredith: Brad's late wife and high school sweetheart." Halle crossed her arms over her chest, recalling this bittersweet memory. "She died about five years ago when Ellie was just two years old."

"Oh." Hanai's eyes snapped wide open as he listened to this, and he felt a little guilty for unconsciously jumping to conclusions about her.

If she was twenty-four, and Ellie was, in fact, her biological, seven-year-old daughter... Well, you do the math.

Halle sighed a little as she slumped back in her chair. "When Meredith died, Brad had a really hard time taking care of Ellie. Because of his job, he's constantly flying out all over the world for business trips that last for weeks, and sometimes even months at a time."

Hanai nodded his head in understanding as this was starting to make more sense to him. "Is that why you help take care of Ellie?"

"Yeah." Halle frowned a little, staring down at the floor. "Social services was a little concerned with how often Ellie was left with a caretaker and not a parent, so, when I was nineteen, I legally signed on as Ellie's second guardian." Halle let her head fall into one of her hands as she propped her elbow up on the kitchen table. "Brad and I share custody of her now, so Ellie lives on and off with me whenever Brad is out of town, or sometimes even the country."

This was all starting to make perfect sense now. Halle was Ellie's _aunt_ , technically, _not_ her mother, even though she acted as her mother. "That's why you were extra conscious of how late you stayed out this week, isn't it?"

Halle just laughed awkwardly, flashing him a sheepish grin. "...you got me." She slowly rose her hand up and covered her eyes in embarrassment. "Man, I _really_ didn't think you'd find out, _and_ like this..."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Hanai curiously smiled as he peered at her from where he sat at the table. "I would have understood."

"What was I supposed to say?" Halle laughed exasperatedly, and she comically shook Hanai's hand. "Hi, my name is Halle Mitchell, and I'm a twenty-four-year-old single mom to my brother's kid. Oh, and by the way, I'm your new partner."

Hanai laughed at her joke, and his eyes crinkled a little from his natural smile that followed. "Okay, I'm starting to see your point..."

Halle blew her bangs out of her face before she grinned at him. "You should see the look on the teacher's faces whenever we have to go to parent-teacher conferences together and explain this. It's hilarious."

Hanai just chuckled harder at that, and Halle smiled brightly at him as she relished in his wonderful laugh. The two slowly quieted their laughter and found themselves staring at each other in a comfortable silence, and before either one could say anything, they were suddenly interrupted by Ellie running back into the room in her pink pajamas.

"Mommy!" Ellie ran to Halle and full speed, and she jumped into her chair and tackled her into a hug.

"Oof!" Halle caught her just in time, laughing a little as the wind was nearly knocked out of her. "Geez, kiddo! Slow down!"

"Sorry..." Ellie laughed, grinning bashfully in apology. "I just forgot to tell you about that bake sale on Friday. We have to make stuff for it." She instantly jumped from one subject to the other, not even giving Halle the chance to respond to the first one. "Can we make a bunch of cupcakes for it?" Her bright grin stunned Halle into silence as she slowly tried to process this.

"Wait just a second, what?" Halle gawked at her daughter, shaking her head a little as this was sinking in. "That's _this_ Friday?"

"Yes!" Ellie vigorously nodded her head.

"Geez..." Halle sighed as she clonked her forehead against Ellie's, staring into her daughter's eyes with an exasperated grin on her face. "You're killing me, kiddo..."

"Sorry, mommy..." Ellie giggled a little anxiously. "I forgot all about it until just now!"

"Of _course_ you did..." Halle stressfully ran her hand through her hair as she set Ellie's feet down on the floor, and Halle stood up from her chair. "Alright, alright... We'll work something out." She crossed the dining room into her kitchen and quickly wrote down the day of the bake sale on her calendar. "We'll go to the store for ingredients tomorrow after I get home from work, and we'll instantly get started baking. We only have tomorrow and Thursday to pull this off."

"Yay!" Ellie clapped her hands together excitedly as she jumped into her mother's chair, sitting across from Hanai at the table. "So...we _can_ make cupcakes?"

Halle scoffed a little, shaking her head a little as she turned slightly to look at her daughter. "How about we do cookies instead? They're faster, we can make more of those than we can do cupcakes, and..." She paused a little, crossing back over to the table as she rested her chin on Ellie's head from behind her. "...it will be a lot easier on your mother if we do those."

Ellie smiled so incredibly bright that even Hanai was effected by her cuteness. "Okay!"

Hanai watched Halle's interaction with Ellie, and he found himself smiling a little at seeing his ex-partner's motherly side. He had to admit, "mom" was a really good look on her. And, now that he knew that she was a single mom, a lot of things he never understood about his partner were starting to click and make sense to him now. Like why she was overly conscious of how late she stayed out, why she was obsessed with checking her phone, why she always worried and cared about people so much, and why she was always so compassionate and thoughtful... Little things like that.

Halle paused and frowned a little, staring off into space at Hanai as she thought things out loud. "Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something...?"

"Maybe because you forgot to wash my soccer uniform for my game tomorrow? _Again?"_ Ellie smirked a little all-knowingly, turning her head up to look at Halle.

Hanai laughed a little when Halle's face visibly fell at Ellie's reminder. "Oh, man... You're so right." She slapped her forehead a little, and just before she was about to turn and leave for the laundry room, she looked over at Hanai and pointed to Ellie. "Uh, Hanai, would you...?"

"I've got this." Hanai shook his head at her with a smile, waving off her concern. "Go do what you've got to do."

"Thank you." Halle mouthed the words silently to him, extremely grateful as she turned and walked out of the dining room.

Which now left Hanai alone with Ellie.

...

Oh boy.

"So." Ellie smirked devilishly, putting her elbows up on the table as she craned her neck towards Hanai curiously. _"You're_ my mom's partner?"

Hanai just laughed a little at the innocent angel who suddenly just turned mischievous in less than a split second. "Yes. Well, at least I am _most_ of the time, although we're both kind of working our own cases right now. It's only temporary." His face fell a little as he covered his mouth with his hand, and he looked down at the floor as he muttered, "I hope..."

Ellie didn't hear that last part, and she was super psyched to meet such an important person to her mother. "So what do you do?"

Hanai smiled a little, completely amused by the adorable little girl. Even though he knew Ellie wasn't Halle's biological daughter, he had to admit, she looked just like her in several ways. Especially when she smirked at him like _that_. "Well, it's my job to protect your mom, and I make sure she can come home safe to you every day."

Ellie was a little caught off guard by how sweet and thoughtful that response was, and she smiled at Hanai gently. "Thank you..."

"No problem." Hanai matched her happy expression as he got a little more comfortable in the chair, crossing his arms a little. "I bet you worry about her a lot, huh?" Several of Halle's klutzy moments flashed before his mind, and Hanai just sighed worriedly at the image of her face-planting on pavement as he rubbed his forehead. "I know _I_ do..."

"Yeah... I do." Ellie, for a brief moment, let her grin melt into a frown, distractedly staring down at the floor as she spoke. "I already lost one mom, so I really don't want to lose another..."

Hanai's eyebrows shot up into his hairline at that. "Wait, so you know that she's not technically your mom?"

"Of course I know." Ellie stared at him with wide eyes, blinking owlishly. "It's not like it was kept a secret from me or anything."

"I see..." Hanai nodded his head a little, letting all of this information sink in. "So, if you don't mind me asking...why do you call her 'mom?'"

Ellie turned her head to look down the hallway Halle had disappeared through, letting a gentle smile find its way to her face. "I know that she's technically my aunt, but... It feels wrong to call her anything other than 'mom.'" She looked so mature for a seven-year-old as she turned her head and grinned brightly at Hanai, throwing him for a loop. "She's the only mom I've ever known, and after all of the things she does for me... I can't call her anything else."

Hanai was completely stunned by her maturity and level of insightfulness, and he found his lips slowly tugging themselves up into a small grin. "You're a really good kid, you know that?"

"Hehe!" Ellie giggled adorably, shutting her eyes lightly as she laughed. "Only most of the time!"

And as Hanai laughed at the little girl's comment, she completely stone-walled him with an innocent question.

"Mr. Hanai?" Ellie looked at him curiously, looking a little nervous as she approached the subject. "Do you...like my mom?"

Hanai's poker face faltered so slightly that it was almost completely unnoticeable, and that was why Ellie didn't see his serious face break at all. "Well of course I like your mom. I work with her every day."

"No, I mean..." Ellie twiddled her thumbs nervously, avoiding eye contact with him awkwardly. "Are you in love with her?"

Hanai was _hoping_ that wasn't what Ellie meant when she asked him that question, and he suddenly felt himself get a little flustered as he looked at her. "Er..."

"Please say you do!" Ellie had this look of hopeful stars in her eyes as she clapped her hands together. She was obviously very enthusiastic about this.

"I..." Hanai opened his mouth to speak, and just as he did, Halle came skipping back into the room with an empty laundry basket in her hands.

"Hey, guys!" Halle stopped at the table and took in a deep breath, setting down the basket in satisfaction, feeling proud of her hard work. "What are you talking about?"

Hanai locked eyes with her, and you never would have guessed that anything was amiss by the stunning poker face he held up. "Oh, nothing really." He then suddenly stood from his chair, turning towards the door. "I should probably get going."

Ellie's face visibly fell at his declaration, and she slumped her shoulders. "Already...?"

"Yeah." Hanai smiled at her understandingly, and he reached out to ruffle her hair. "Sorry, Ellie."

Halle looked puzzled as she stared at the two, feeling as if she had missed something. "Well... I'll go get the door for you." She walked behind Hanai and followed him to the front door, which she then held open for him. "Thanks for bringing my phone by, Hanai."

Halle smiled at him adorably in thanks, and for a moment there, Hanai thought he was staring at Ellie as he looked upon her grinning face. "It was no problem. I..."

Hanai was about to say something else when his eyes locked themselves on the framed photo on the wall behind Halle. It was a picture of Halle and a man Hanai didn't recognize sitting on a bench together at a park, and they both had big smiles on their faces. Halle was leaning back into the man as he hugged her tightly and obnoxiously, and she was holding her cell phone up high and pointed the camera down at them for a nice angle as she took the picture. Halle and the handsome, tall-looking man with short, dark brown hair looked really close, almost like a couple. And, Hanai was pretty sure that she had another copy of this photo on her desk at work.

"...never mind." Hanai suddenly grew very quiet and sad, and he turned to leave Halle's apartment looking very dejected and discouraged. "Goodnight, Mitchell."

"O-oh, uh... Goodnight, Hanai." Halle was surprised by his sudden depressing mood, and she awkwardly watched him walk away, staring at the back of his tall figure.

When Hanai heard the door close lightly behind him, he stopped walking, and all he could do was just sigh.

...

It was stupid of him to think a woman like that would be single.

* * *

 **BOOM! One of the biggest reveals of the whole book has been revealed! Actually, no, this probably is the biggest one.**

 **So, Halle is a single mom, and Ellie is technically her niece. How many of you guys were shocked by that? I know at least one person didn't jump to the conclusion of Ellie being her real daughter and guessed that she was _actually_ her niece, which was impressive because I barely left any hints that would lead you guys to that conclusion XD**

 **So, what did you think of the chapter? Please review and let me know! I know it was a mean, teaser sort of ending, but I hope you guys really loved Ellie XD she's so adorable and meddlesome, it's great.**

 **And, in case you didn't pick up on it, the picture Hanai saw was the one of Halle and Brad that she has on her desk at work. Well, except Hanai's never met Brad even though he knows she has a brother, so based on what he saw in the photo, it looked like a picture of Halle and her boyfriend, and he was very disappointed when he saw that.**

 **XD I love being this mean... Poor Hanai. This misunderstanding is going to be so fun to blow up in his face later.**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


	20. Chapter 20

Tennoji stood by the counter in the Second Unit office, puttering around with the coffee machine. He was one of the guys first in this morning, and since Halle wasn't here yet, he decided to make his own damn coffee for once. Tennoji was cranky in the morning without his coffee, and he was going to have none of _that_.

The grouchy-faced detective grabbed his coffee mug from the cabinet below him, and as he shut the door to the cupboard, he found a pair of bright, raspberry-colored eyes suddenly just staring _right at him._

"What are you doing?" A little girl with curly blonde hair blinked at him owlishly, innocently rocking back on her heels as she held her interlocked hands behind her back.

"WHOA!" Tennoji yelled in alarm and nearly fell backwards, having not even _seen_ this kid walk into the room. "Wha...the hell!? What's a kid doing here?"

"Did I scare you?" The little girl, who was none other than Ellie Mitchell, smirked mischievously up at Tennoji. "I thought detectives were supposed to be... _observant?"_

Tennoji instantly just glared at the little girl for that snide remark, and he threw his hands up into the air in defeat as he bitterly began looking around the office. "Okay, who's kid is this!?"

As all of the other guys in the office's attention had now been grabbed by Tennoji, they all looked over at the little girl in surprise as the door to the office opened, and Halle stepped inside.

"Oh, Ellie! There you are!" Halle smiled brightly as she locked eyes with her daughter, and she set her bag down at her desk before she began walking over to her.

"Mommy!" Ellie grinned brightly as she ran up and jumped into Halle's arms, hugging her tightly.

Tennoji nearly dropped his coffee cup from the shock, and he just had his mouth hanging open like a fish as he stared at Halle and Ellie, comparing the uncanny similarities between them. "...there's two of them."

Asano stood up from his desk, curiously staring over at Halle with an odd expression on his face. "You have a daughter?" He didn't ask anything more once Halle nodded her head yes, and he smiled a little at Ellie looking at him over Halle's shoulder. "She's cute."

"Huh." Kyobashi crossed his arms, leaning back in his desk chair. "I didn't see _that_ coming."

Yachigusa was the first to actually walk over and say hello to Ellie, and he shook her hand. "Hello. What's your name?"

Ellie blew her bangs out of her face similar to the way her mother always did, and she beamed brightly up at Yachigusa. "I'm Ellie Mitchell. Nice to meet you!"

Yachigusa's face erupted into a bright smile as he looked at the kid. "You're adorable. I'm Eiki!"

Tennoji skeptically eyed the little girl, not too keen with the idea of her being here. "The fact that the kid is _Mitchell's_ is starting to make a whole lot of sense..." He bitterly grumbled to himself, thinking about how Ellie has completely bested him with her quip earlier.

Kirisawa took a puff of his cigarette, leaning back in his chair as he smiled amusedly to Halle. "So, Mitchell, is today _'bring your kid to work'_ day, and I'm just the last one to know?"

Halle bit down on her lip a little nervously, slowly setting Ellie down on the floor. "Er... No. Sorry, Kirisawa, but my usual babysitter Sam is at a meeting at the school she works at, since the kids have the day off because of a holiday, so I had no choice but to bring Ellie with me this morning." She frowned a little dejectedly, slumping her shoulders. "I'm really sorry! It won't happen again! Ellie will only be here for half an hour give or take, just until Sam can get here after her meeting is over..."

"What's all the commotion?"

Halle turned around slowly as a new voice entered the room, and she locked eyes with Hanai, who had just unknowingly stepped into a war zone.

"Mr. Hanai!" Ellie grinned brightly in recognition, and she instantly charged right at him and hugged him tightly around the legs.

"Oof!" Hanai nearly was knocked over by Ellie's sheer force, and he quickly grabbed onto Halle's desk to regain his balance. "What the...oh, hey, Ellie." He smiled down at the little girl hugging him tightly, ruffling her hair sweetly.

Tennoji's eyebrows shot up into his hairline. "You knew Mitchell had a kid, Kazusa?"

"Of course I knew." Hanai smirked at Tennoji with a sardonic look on his face, hiding the fact that he had only just met Ellie for the first time last night. He wasn't about to miss this opportunity to one-up Tennoji. "Who do you think I am? Mitchell _was_ my partner, after all."

Asano was the first to voice everyone in the room's thoughts as he quietly looked at Halle. "Why didn't you tell us you were a mom?"

Halle tore her gaze away from Ellie hugging Hanai, turning to look at the other five sets of eyes that were now all staring at her. "Well...you never asked."

Yachigusa chuckled a little, awkwardly running a hand through his hair. "I guess that's true... I don't think we've really asked you about anything personal to get to know you better, have we?"

Halle sheepishly looked at him, fiddling with her thumbs awkwardly. "Er...no. Besides Hanai, I don't think so."

"Well, let's fix that!" Yachigusa clapped his hands together in comprehension, suddenly deciding something. "I say we completely invade Halle's privacy and start asking her questions about her personal life!"

"WHAT!?" Halle suddenly yelled in alarm, staring at Yachigusa in shock as her hands flew up to grab at her hair.

"Sounds like fun." Kyobashi rolled his chair over to the end of his desk, getting closer to Halle.

"Oh, uh _uh!"_ Halle shook her head no, taking a step back from Kyobashi. "Do _not_ get the pervy sadist in on this while my kid is here!"

Kyobashi smirked a little teasingly, and you could practically see the light bulb lighting up above his head. "Oh, so it's okay when Ellie's _not_ here?"

"Yes." Halle nodded her head and crossed her arms, then she widened her eyes in shock as that thought processed in her mind. "Wait, no!"

"Mom, what's a pervy sadist?" Ellie quirked her head to the side, curiously staring at Halle.

Halle locked eyes with her daughter before suddenly slapping her forehead, and she elicited an annoyed groan. "Great..."

Hanai chuckled a little, and he sat over in his chair with Ellie comfortably sitting in his lap. "This should be interesting."

"So, then we'll just keep this PG-13 since Ellie's here." Yachigusa smiled a little, reigning in everyone's attention once more. "Ellie, how old are you?" He looked over at her just as he said that, a little curious.

"I just turned seven last month!" Ellie grinned brightly, oblivious to what was about to happen.

"Great..." Eiki just sweatdropped, then turned his head back to Halle. "Well, I guess I'll start. Halle..."

Halle blinked a little suspiciously at Yachigusa, crossing her arms over her chest in a way that showed she was uncomfortable. "Yes...?"

"I've always wondered, but..." Yachigusa trailed off a little, pressing his index finger to his lips as he smiled at her. "Are you mixed? You don't exactly _look_ very Japanese." Being Japanese-American himself, Yachigusa was a little curious.

Halle felt a lot less tense once she realized _that_ was the question he wanted to ask, and she exhaled in relief. "Yeah, I'm French-Japanese."

"Really?" Hanai widened his eyes a little in shock, not having known that about her. He _thought_ she was mixed, but he never would have guessed she was half French.

"That's so cool!" Yachigusa grinned brightly at her, clapping his hands together excitedly. "Does that mean you can speak French?"

"Est-ce que cela répond à votre enquête?" Halle responded fluidly with a smirk on her face, casually leaning back onto her desk.

Yachigusa looked stunned as she spoke French to him so fluently, and his eyes snapped wide open. "...I'll take that as a yes then?"

Hanai just laughed a little as he held onto Ellie in his arms, having understood a little of what she said because he lightly studied French in college. "Eiki, she basically just asked you, _'does this answer your question?'_ in French."

Yachigusa laughed awkwardly, running a hand through his hair. "Oh. Ahah... I knew that."

Kyobashi's interest was piqued by this conversation topic. "So is your mother or your father French?"

Halle's carefree expression seemed to tighten a little at his question. "...my mother." Only Yachigusa picked up on Halle's sudden shift in mood, remembering the conversation he had in the stairwell with her yesterday. "When I was a kid, she insisted that I must know how to speak her native language fluently, so she often spoke to me in French until I could grasp it. My brother knows it too, as well as a few other languages."

"You've got a brother, Mitchell?" Tennoji quirked an eyebrow at this, having a sibling himself. "What's he like?"

Halle's expression seemed to cloud over, and her surrounding aura darkened. "He's a complete idiot, if you ask me." She sighed a little, stressfully rubbing at her forehead. "He's eight years older than me, and honestly, you guys would probably like him. He's arrogant, snarky, and almost as much of a sadist as Kyobashi..."

Ellie laughed a little as she listened to Halle's opinion of her dad. "But you guys get along really well!"

Halle felt her expression melt into a genuine smile as she stared at the adorable little eyes of Ellie's. "Yeah, we do. He's still an idiot, though."

"...so, onto a more _interesting_ topic." Kyobashi cleared his throat, getting ready to change the subject. "Mitchell, what's your boyfriend like?"

As Hanai suddenly feigned interest in the conversation and turned his head away, Halle gagged on her tea and did a massive spit-take. "WHAT!?"

"Oooh, that was an interesting reaction." Kyobashi's sadistic smirk seemed to only deepen as Halle inadvertently added more fuel to the fire. "Do tell, Mitchell.

"N-no!" Halle clumsily waved her hands back and forth defensively, feeling pretty flustered as her cheeks flushed bright red. "That's none of your business!" She flat-out denied everything, not letting her forever-single status slip.

Before Kyobashi could press the matter further, Halle was saved by the bell when a shrill, high-pitched voice belonging to a spunky blonde woman rang out from outside the Second Unit office's door.

"Hellooooooo~! Halle, love, where the hell are you? This place is so bloody confusing, and I keep getting lost!"

Halle just groaned and slapped her forehead as Sam's voice reached her ears, and as all of the guys exchanged confused glances with each other, Halle sighed as she called out towards the door. "In here, Sam."

"Oh!" Sam cried out as she fiddled with the doorknob, and she immediately swung open the door and stepped inside, dressed in her multi-colored sundress. "Ellie!"

"Auntie!" Ellie jumped up from Hanai's lap, and she crossed the room over to Sam, instantly hugging her.

"Ah, there's my little angel." Sam smiled brightly and ruffled Ellie's hair, then she quickly looked up at Halle. "Sorry, love, my meeting ran a little later than I had anticipated...ooh, why, _hello_ there..." She instantly stopped herself as she locked eyes with one of the attractive detectives sitting at their desk behind Halle, shooting him a flirty smirk.

Tennoji quickly looked behind and around him to make sure that this crazy blonde woman was, in fact, looking at him, and once he saw that there was no one else she could possibly be looking at, he made an audible gulp. "...uh, me?"

"What is your name?" Sam instantly walked over to him, propping her elbows up on his desk as she got really close to his face, batting her eyelashes flirtatiously at him.

"T-Tennoji..." His face flushed a little red in embarrassment as Tennoji leaned back in his chair, trying to keep a reasonable amount of distance between himself and Sam.

Completely unfazed by this, having grown accustomed to Sam's flirty behavior, Halle held her daughter's hand and slapped her forehead with the other as she sighed. "You sure don't waste time..."

"M-Mitchell, who is this!?" Tennoji's eyes flew over to her in a panic, trying to get some sort of explanation for why a very attractive woman just suddenly barged in and started hitting on him. Not that he was complaining, though.

Halle just sighed a little. "Guys, this is my best friend, Samantha Acker. She's the one I was telling you guys about earlier, who usually watches Ellie for me while I'm at work."

"Hi there." Now having properly been introduced, Sam instantly leaned closer to Tennoji in attempt to close some of the distance between them. "You can just call me Sam, cutie. I'm twenty four, a spunky elementary school teacher, and I'm single." She instantly held out a slip of paper with her number on it to Tennoji, shameless as always.

Tennoji cautiously took Sam's number from her, not really sure what else to do. "Erm...so, ah... How did you guys meet?" He tried to get the spotlight off of him by changing the subject, but that instantly backfired.

Everyone in the room immediately took notice of Halle suddenly starting to sip her tea nonchalantly, and Sam's expression darkened exponentially.

"This _twat_..." Sam angrily turned around to point an accusing finger at Halle, reminiscing about their old times in high school. "...hit me in the face with a baseball bat and broke my nose!"

The guys all just dropped their jaws as their eyes immediately flew to Halle for some sort of explanation.

"...you're never going to let me live that down, are you?" Halle just sighed, not having a care in the world as she sat on the edge of her desk. "Sam, that was a little over ten _years_ ago..."

"Umm." Kirisawa tried to smother his laughter a little bit as he took a puff of his cigarette. "Can I ask you to elaborate more on that?"

"Sure." Halle laughed a little as she shook her head, placing her cup of tea down on her desk. "It was our freshman year in high school, and we were both trying out for the baseball team. Sam made the mistake of standing behind me when I was batting, and, well..." She mischievously grinned in the blonde's direction. "...you know the rest."

"Wait, what!?" Tennoji's eyebrows shot up into his hairline at the mention of baseball. "Are you sayin' you two chicks play baseball!?"

Sam sat up on Tennoji's desk, looking rather surprised. "Yeah, didn't you know?" She innocently asked her question, but based on the surprised looks on everyone's faces, she guessed that was just another thing Halle had failed to mention about herself. "Halle was club president for our school's Show Choir, and she was also the pitcher for our baseball team. I was the girl on the team with the best running time and number of home runs." She flashed Tennoji a wink, taking note of the stars in his eyes.

"My brother got me into it." Halle remained seated on top of her desk, and she looked over at Hanai who was sitting just a foot away from her. "We still play now, actually." She finished off the last bit of her tea, then threw away her disposable cup. "On an independent team for adults, of course."

 _"And_ we're the only two girls on the team." Sam chuckled adorably, raising her hand to her mouth to cover her laughter slightly. "You guys should come by sometime and watch one of our games!"

Halle just rolled her eyes. "Yes, let's give these guys yet _another_ reason to tease me about not being feminine and how I'm supposedly a man." She laughed a little, crossing her arms over her chest. "I swear, at this rate you guys are going to give me a complex based on how often you forget that I'm actually a girl!"

Kyobashi feigned innocence as he looked around the room curiously. "Oh, sorry. Who's a girl?"

Halle just dropped her jaw and pointed to herself. "Me, you jerk!"

Kyobashi looked her up and down before shaking his head no. "...nah. I don't see it."

"Oh come on!" Halle slammed her hands down on her desk in frustration. "You guys...!"

"Well, with that bottomless pit you call a stomach, it's hard to consider you as a girl." Hanai smirked mischievously at her, shooting her that classic wry smile of his.

Halle just dropped her jaw and whirled her head around to glare at him. "Hanai!"

Ellie laughed at the playful banter between her mom and the other detectives, and she innocently grinned up at Hanai, having taken her place back in his chair with him once more. "Isn't my mom cool, Mr. Hanai?"

Hanai smiled a little, giving in to her cute charm. "Yeah. Your mom is really cool, Ellie."

Halle turned her face away to hide her slightly pink cheeks, and she locked eyes with Sam. "Hey, shouldn't you get going with Ellie? I do have a job to do, after all."

"Oh, bugger..." Sam pouted as she flashed Tennoji puppy dog eyes. "I wanted to stay some more... Call me, okay cutie?" She winked at Tennoji one more time before she jumped up from his desk and scooped up Ellie, heading for the door. "See you tonight, love." Sam waved good-bye to Halle as she motioned to leave.

"Bye, mom!" Ellie waved to Halle over Sam's shoulder, smiling as she disappeared through the doorway.

Now that their two visitors were gone, Halle turned back around to face the chaos they had bestowed on Second Unit.

"...what just happened?" Tennoji was the first to speak up, insanely confused by this turn of events.

Halle just sweatdropped. "I don't even know how to _begin_ to explain..."

* * *

 **Okay, let me just start this by saying I was crying from laughing so hard writing Sam's scene XD how many of you guys are already shipping her and Tennoji? (Probably _all_ of you).**

 **So, things are still a little awkward for Hanai and Halle because he still thinks she has a boyfriend, Ellie got to meet everyone in Second Unit and bully Tennoji a little (extra brownie points go to Ellie for that) aaaaaaand Sam has set her eyes on Tennoji.**

 **XDDDDD read, review, and enjoy...**


	21. Chapter 21

In the excitement of everything going on around her, Halle almost forgot that she was no longer Hanai's partner. And now, starting today, she was going to work with Tennoji.

...

Yuck.

Halle sat glumly at her desk as she listened to Kirisawa give them the case debrief, depressingly fiddling with her phone. It wasn't the same checking her texts for Ellie without Hanai constantly nagging her to get off of her phone.

"We've been receiving a lot of reports of a voyeur targeting couples in a certain park." Kirisawa stood by the whiteboard, firmly addressing Tennoji and Halle with this information.

Halle innocently tilted her head to the side in confusion as she blinked at Kirisawa. "A voyeur?"

Oblivious to her confusion, Kirisawa kept talking. "So, I'd like you and Tennoji to go to the park and pretend to be a couple to investigate. Got it?"

Hanai spit out his coffee at the intense look of disgust on Halle's face, watching amusedly as she grimaced in Tennoji's direction. "...fine."

"Mitchell." Tennoji turned to his new temporary partner, resting a hand on his hip.

"Yes?" Halle looked up at him instantly with interest gleaming in her eyes.

"Whatever you do," Tennoji flattened his lips into a hard line and glared at her. "...don't get in my way. Got it?"

Halle gritted her teeth together as she harshly balled her hands into fists, holding her tongue. "...got it."

Kirisawa tossed a case file onto Tennoji's desk. "Tennoji, fill Mitchell in on the details of the case."

"Okay." Tennoji nodded, picking up the file.

"Hanai, I need to talk to you for a second." Kirisawa waved him over, ushering Hanai to follow him with a grave expression on his face. "Come over here with me."

Hanai stood up from his desk obediently. "Yes, Sir."

Halle watched him get up and start to follow Kirisawa out of the office, and his eyes met her own for a moment. Hanai quickly looked down to avert her gaze as he walked out, causing Halle to frown depressingly to herself.

"Hanai..." Halle somberly whispered to herself as she watched him go.

"Mitchell!" Tennoji abruptly bonked her over the head angrily with his calloused hand, messing up her hair. "Quit daydreaming!"

"Ouch!" Halle snapped out of it, instantly clutching her head. "O-oh, I'm coming!" She quickly jogged over to Tennoji at the door to catch up.

Tennoji went back to his serious, 'let's get down to business' look as he started to walk with her out of the office. "I'll explain some more about the case."

"Go ahead." Halle eagerly nodded her head, listening carefully.

"Like Boss said," Tennoji started back up again. "There've been reports of a voyeur peeping in on couples' 'love scenes.'"

Halle stared at him oddly. "'Love scenes?'"

Tennoji just smirked at her. "You know. Making out and... _stuff."_

Halle's whole face flared up red in embarrassment as she slapped her cheeks. "People do that in _parks!?"_

Tennoji just laughed at her and shook his head. "The guy behind it seems like some kind of low-life pervert. I'm sure you agree."

"Yeah, sounds like it..." Halle mumbled quietly to herself, suddenly getting lost in her thoughts.

There was no way that all of this meant she had to hook up with Tennoji just to catch this voyeur, right...? Gross! This _had_ to be a joke!

Tennoji scrunched up his nose in annoyance as he got close to Halle's face, looking her dead-on in the eyes. "You listenin' to me!?"

"Yes, I'm listening!" Halle angrily barked back at him, just as annoyed with his constant idiocy.

Tennoji backed up out of her face and resumed walking beside her, skeptically shooting her a glance as he kept giving her details of the case. "Apparently, he takes pictures of the couples and sells the photos."

"He _sells_ them?" Halle drew back her head in shock, thoroughly appalled as her face scrunched up. "Gross..."

"We suspect that there's more than one person behind this, but if we catch one, we should be able to flush out the others." Tennoji smirked and cracked his knuckles horrifyingly _loud_ , which made Halle widen her eyes in fear momentarily from both that and the scary look on his face.

"I see." Halle gulped nervously, more than just a little worried by the evil look on Tennoji's face.

"Alright then, let's roll." Tennoji snapped his fingers and pointed forwards as he walked out the MPD's front door, heading for his unmarked police car.

"Okay." Halle quickly jogged to catch up to him, but instantly slammed her face _right into_ the glass door that Tennoji had failed to hold open for her. "Ouch! Tennoji...!"

* * *

That car ride was probably the most unbearable thing Halle had _ever_ been forced to endure in her entire life. Honestly, she almost preferred those awful, daily singing and piano lessons her mother put her through as a child. Tennoji was an _insane_ driver! He constantly floored it and went over the speed limit, sped around corners impossibly fast, and slammed on the brakes whenever he had to stop. Halle felt like she was going to _die_ just sitting in the passenger seat with him. He didn't drive _anything_ like how Hanai did...

Halle walked beside Tennoji as they entered what appeared to be an old-timey coffee shop with antique decor, and she wore a pale look on her face that suggested she had just seen a ghost. "Are we here to interview witnesses?" Slowly, the color began to return to her face as she tried to smooth out her now-sticking-up hair, trying to ignore her fast-beating heart from that car ride.

Tennoji just casually strode into the place and triggered the bell attached to the door, shaking his head no. "Nah, there should be someone waitin' for us here..." He trailed off a little as he locked eyes with someone across the coffee shop, then nodded his head decisively. "Yep, there he is."

Halle followed Tennoji's line of sight to a lone man who looked sketchy as he purposefully stuck to the shadows, trying to not attract any attention.

"Sup." The man gave Tennoji a little head nod as the two detectives approached him.

Tennoji stopped in front of him, setting his hands on his hips. "Hey. Sorry for callin' you out here like this."

"Don't worry about it." The shady guy waved it off, shrugging his shoulders. Then, he spotted Halle standing right next to Tennoji, and he warily grew suspicious. "Who's the girl?"

"Another detective."

"Oh."

Without introducing her, Tennoji pulled up a chair and sat down with a thud. Halle stood there awe-struck as the two men just suddenly started talking about something she could hardly follow, and she just awkwardly sat down in a chair next to Tennoji.

"So, what happened after that?" Tennoji inquired, resting his crossed arms on the back of the chair he was currently sitting backwards in.

"It looks like a college kid." The shady guy crossed his arms over his chest, leaning further back into the shadows as he spoke.

Tennoji appeared to be really familiar with this guy as he continued to speak with him. It seemed to Halle that this wasn't their first time meeting one another. "So he started off trying to save up some spending money, but ended up selling. And?"

The shady guy just nodded his head. "Apparently it's not working out too well for him...or at least that's what I heard."

"He's being pretty cautious?"

"Seems like it."

Based on their conversation, Halle presumed that this guy here was Tennoji's informant for some other case. She took out her notepad and began summarizing what they had been saying in her messy handwriting that she refused to realize was actually _very_ messy, jotting down whatever seemed to be important. Well, at least she was until...

"What're you doing?"

Halle blinked owlishly as she jerked her head up from her notepad, locking eyes with Tennoji, who was staring at her quizzically. "Taking notes."

Tennoji's whole face erupted with anger as he slammed his hand down on the counter. "Stupid! Don't write this down!"

"What...why!?" Halle unconsciously leaned back away from Tennoji, a little frightened by him suddenly yelling at her. "Hanai was always telling me to take notes!"

Tennoji just scoffed and shook his head, looking even more annoyed than before. "Do I _look_ like Hanai to you?"

Halle opened her mouth wide and gaped at Tennoji like a fish, unsure of how to even respond. "Well, no, but Hanai said..."

"Hanai, Hanai..." Tennoji interrupted her impatiently with a roll of his eyes. "What's Hanai to you?"

Halle blinked her eyes over and over again, not sure if she even heard that right. "Excuse me?"

Tennoji ignored his initial question and snatched Halle's cute blue notepad from her, stuffing it into his jacket pocket after tearing out the page she was writing on and crumpling it into a ball. "Maybe Hanai wanted you to take notes, but I don't."

"I can choose to take notes or not by myself!" Halle angrily lunged forward to try and snatch her notepad back from Tennoji, but he just simply held out a hand and caught her forehead, holding her there as she continued to struggle to get her notepad back.

"When you're with me, what I say goes! No notes!" Tennoji snapped at her again, getting sick and tired of her bullshit. He let go of her and clonked her on the forehead, earning a small "ow!" from the little brunette. "Take notes in your head!"

Halle wanted to slam her hand down on the table and leave, but all she could do was sit there and take it as Tennoji viciously berated her. What the hell did Sam even _see_ in this guy!?

* * *

After the meeting with the informant was over, it was lunch time, and Tennoji and Halle headed over to the park where the supposed "voyeur" lurked to case out the place.

Halle stepped up into the playground and planted her feet firmly on the dirt, slowly turning in a circle and looking around the park. "I wonder where he's hiding to get pictures of these couples..."

"You can't even figure _that_ out?" Tennoji stared at her dumbly in shock, and he reached out and thumped her forehead roughly again. "Think!"

"Ouch!" Halle cried out as she slapped her hands over her forehead, and she glared at Tennoji malevolently. "You can be a jerk to me all you want, but that won't help me figure this out any faster!"

Tennoji just rolled his eyes, resting his hands on his hips as he gave in and just impatiently told her the answer. "The perp hides behind trees or acts like he's just walking by the couples when, in actuality, he's taping them. He puts the camera in a paper bag with a hole cut out for the lens."

Halle drew her head back all little as she wore appalled expression on her face. "Gross..."

A vein bulged from Tennoji's forehead as he angrily glared at her. "Who you callin' gross!?"

"Not you, you moron!" Halle just gave him the most incredulous look ever as she threw her hands up in the air exasperatedly. "I was talking about the perp!"

Tennoji bitterly narrowed his eyes at the rookie detective, getting really fed up with her smart mouth. "You really are a pain in the ass to deal with."

Halle just scoffed and threw her head back dramatically. "I could say the same thing about you!"

"Why'd I have to get paired up with a newbie like you anyways!?" Tennoji spat at her angrily and flashed her a really harsh look before abruptly walking away.

Halle just watched him storm off, completely dumbfounded with his childish behavior. "I wonder how much longer I'll be working with this guy..."

Her days of chasing behind Hanai with her notepad suddenly seemed nostalgic. It was only yesterday that they were split up, but it felt like an eternity already, and Halle couldn't take it much longer.

...

She missed Hanai.

* * *

One night after she had been working with Tennoji for a few days, having finished with her investigatory work for the day, Halle was back at Second Unit's office putting in some overtime. Not like this was really unusual for the girl, though. If she was going to prove herself to the guys in Second Unit, she would sure as hell show them what she was capable of. And in order to do that, she would put everything she had into this job. Halle was going to earn every ounce of their respect by _herself._

Halle briefly tore her eyes away from her laptop screen to glance at the clock on her desk that was piled with clutter, and she tiredly ran her fingers through her hair. "Oh god, I can't believe it's eleven o'clock already... I have to hurry up and finish this debrief."

Halle wanted to finish up and get home to Ellie, but she just couldn't seem to make herself do her work no matter how hard she tried to stay focused. She was _that_ tired. Her thoughts wandered to how Tennoji and her just could _not_ seem to get on the same page, no matter how many days it had been since they were partnered up. She had been partners with Hanai for three months, and partners with Tennoji for three _days_. Every time he yelled at her, she couldn't help but compare him to Hanai. Hanai wouldn't talk to her like that. Hanai would listen to what she had to say. Hanai would...

Halle's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by her cell phone ringing, and she quizzically stared at the Caller-ID that read, "Ellie Mitchell."

"Ellie?" Halle picked up the call immediately, confused beyond belief as to why her daughter was up this late.

 _"No, love, it's me."_ Sam's voice rang out over the phone, and her lovely accent instantly settled Halle's nerves.

"Oh, phew..." Halle sighted in relief, pressing her hand to her forehead. "I thought you were Ellie for a second there. Wait, why are you calling me on _her_ phone?"

 _"Ugh!"_ Same grunted in frustration, and Halle could hear the sound of her exasperatedly slapping her hand onto her forehead with a loud smack. " _Because my mobile phone isn't bloody working!"_

Halle just sighed in response, slumping her whole posture as she covered her face with her free hand. "Okay?"

 _"Well don't just sit there! Fix it!"_ Sam whined comprehensively, stomping her foot impatiently on the other side of the line _. "You're the mobile phone expert, love! I'm not a tech geek like you!"_

Halle just narrowed her eyes in annoyance at nothing in particular."Sam, I'm not a tech geek. My family just owns a company that develops tablets and smart phones."

 _"Same thing!"_

Halle just sighed sharply, resisting the urge to rub her eyes and mess up the light makeup that she was wearing. "Okay, Sam. What's wrong with your cell?"

 _"It's not letting me call anyone, and I can't send or receive text messages!"_ Sam pouted fiercely as she spoke in a dry, whiney voice. _"I can't even access the Internet!"_

Halle quirked an eyebrow in confusion, warily approaching her suspicion. "Sam, slide up the menu from the bottom of the screen."

 _"Okay...got it. Now what?"_

Halle rested her head in her hand, slumping at her desk. "Is the little airplane icon lit up?"

 _"Yes...why?"_

Halle slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand. "Sam, your phone is on airplane mode."

 _"...oh. Bugger! I really thought I broke it this time! Bloody mobiles and all their fancy buttons and shit..."_

Halle chuckled quietly to herself as she shook her head. "Goodnight, Sam. I'll be home within the hour."

 _"Goodnight, love!"_

Halle hung up her phone and heard the office door suddenly click, and she turned her head and looked just in time to see it get pushed open by someone. She found herself staring at Hanai, who was just standing there and smiling quietly.

"You're here late." Hanai observed as he strode into the room and quietly shut the door behind him.

Halle awkwardly stiffened her posture and sat up straight, not sure what to say to him. "...so are you."

Hanai walked right up behind her and looked at her laptop screen, a little surprised to see what she was working on so late. "Debrief report?"

"Yeah." Halle sighed and instantly relaxed, less tense now that Hanai was around. "I just can't seem to finish it."

"Well, it looks like you're working hard." Hanai smirked wryly, looking down at her for a moment.

"Not really." Halle groaned as she covered her face with her hands, leaning back in her chair. "I just can't seem to get focused."

Hanai just chuckled, then shook his head as he glanced at her. "So how's working with Tennoji?"

Halle just stared at him as she firmly deadpanned, "it's _awful."_

Hanai winced in amusement, laughing a little as he did so. "Well, you're just not used to his way of doing things yet."

"I don't think I'll _ever_ get used to his way of doing things..." Halle told him how she was _really_ feeling about work lately, not even meaning to.

"At least he's not forcing you to take notes constantly, right?" Hanai spoke kindly to her, trying to console Halle like one would a child.

"He got mad at me for taking notes." Halle stuck out her bottom lip to pout, crossing her arms over her chest.

Hanai opened his mouth wide as this thought just occurred to him. "Oh. Yeah, our methods are probably pretty different."

"Extraordinarily different!" Halle whirled around in her chair as she wailed, pouting at Hanai. "I feel kind of lost..."

Hanai flashed Halle a little smile and placed a paper bag on her desk, and he grinned even bigger when all she did was flash him a look of confusion. "Here."

"Huh?" Halle's eyes blinked several times at the sight of the bag, unsure of what to make of this.

Hanai just simply rose an eyebrow at her quizzically as he looked at her. "You haven't eaten anything yet, right?"

Halle's eyes snapped wide open in shock. "How did you kn-" Her stomach abruptly growled, cutting her off mid-sentence.

"I just had a feeling." Hanai chuckled at the embarrassed look on her face, finding her stomach's timing rather amusing. "I guess I wasn't wrong, huh?"

"Hanai..." Halle smiled at him thankfully as she relaxed her shoulders, and she turned and opened up the bag. Inside she found some pastries, a pork-cutlet sandwich, a cream-filled doughnut, and a bottle of her favorite milk tea.

"From the bakery we always went to." Hanai added, awkwardly stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Thank you." She turned and beamed at him, eternally grateful.

Hanai looked at the ground for a moment and then rose his face slowly. "Mitchell?"

"Yes?" Halle stared at him, wondering what he was going to say to her.

A fiercely determined look crossed Hanai's face as he stared directly into her eyes. "I'll be back. Definitely."

"Huh?" Halle tilted her head to the side, a little confused by this.

"The stabbing case." Hanai explained further, practically brimming with ferocity and determination. "I'm going to get myself put back on it."

Halle stared at him for the longest time before a smile slowly crept up onto her lips. "...good. You better. I'll be waiting, so you better come back!"

Hanai smirked a little, turning his head to the side. "I hope you're ready to wait for awhile."

"What? Noooo!" Halle whined and shut her eyes comprehensively, reaching out to clutch Hanai's suit jacket sleeves. "Come back now!"

"One step at a time." Hanai laughed a little at her eagerness, which seemed to have a positive effect on him, seeing as how just seeing her silly faces immediately lifted his spirits. "I'll do what I have to do to create a chance for me to return."

"Hanai..." Halle's frown slowly turned up into a tiny grin, and she resisted the urge to reach out and hug him.

"Well, I'll see you later." Hanai turned a little and got ready to leave. "Hurry up and finish your debrief."

"Okay." Halle watched his tall figure disappear through the doorway and into the shadows, and she turned back to the paper bag on her desk. "Thank you, Hanai..." She grabbed the bag and opened it up, snatching the doughnut right out of it. When she smelled the amazing scent and took a big bite of it, despite just how great it tasted, she felt her eyes begin to sting a little. Was she going to start crying? "What's wrong with me? I..."

Halle's eyes were pricked with tears as sharp as knives, and she felt them welling up for no apparent reason suddenly. The more she tried to blink away her tears, the worse it got. And she couldn't stop the tears as they rolled down her cheeks.

Halle reached up and touched one of the tears on her cheeks, widening her eyes as the awful, crushing thought that she had been pushing from her mind for weeks now suddenly became as clear as glass.

...

She liked Hanai.

* * *

 **Ahh, finally... It's done. I've been procrastinating on this update for a month XD sorry guys. I have to work on like five or six books at a time so I don't get bored of one and give up on it.**

 **So, Halle FINALLY admits to herself that she likes Hanai, but she's not too happy about it. In fact, she's kind of stubbornly trying to ignore it. Uh oh. That's not good.**

 **And now, in our next upcoming chapter, you guys can enjoy this little preview: we will meet Halle's older brother Brad, and we're going to have yet another moment for Sam to shine. Look forward to this! I guarantee this will make you guys die laughing XD XD XD**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


	22. Chapter 22

"Mommy!"

...

"Moooom..."

...

"Mom, it's time to wake up!"

Halle stirred in her sleep when she felt herself being lightly shaken awake by someone, and she slowly fluttered her eyes open. She found herself looking right at Ellie standing at her bedside, who was still in her pajamas.

Halle stretched her arms lazily with a big yawn, and she slowly sat up and got out of bed. "Alright, alright... I'm up."

"Come on!" Ellie grabbed her mother's hand and began dragging her out of her bedroom. "Auntie Sam's already here!"

Halle chuckled at Ellie's eagerness, and she let her daughter drag her into her apartment's small kitchen. "Okay, okay...!"

Halle and Ellie walked out into the kitchen to find Sam cooking away at the stove, making enough breakfast for the three of them as usual. Sam flipped the last pancake onto the serving plate and turned off the stove, then set everything out on the dining room table. The three girls took a seat around the big table and chatted idly with one another as they ate a few pancakes, and they quickly devoured the bacon and eggs in no time.

Halle got up from her chair and grabbed everyone's plates as usual, and she took them to the kitchen sink and began washing the dishes. "Come on, Ellie. Go get dressed for school."

"Okay..." Ellie leapt up from her chair and skipped off down the hallway, disappearing into her bedroom.

Sam got up and joined Halle in the kitchen, pulling an adorable pink bento box from the refrigerator. "I've already packed Ellie's lunch, so you can go get ready for work once you're done with the dishes, love."

"Thanks, Sam." Halle turned her head and flashed her best friend a smile, very grateful for all her help. "I know you're supposed to go to a private school for your job interview today, so do you need me to take Ellie to school?"

"Actually, yes..." Sam grinned sheepishly, running a hand through her curly blonde hair. "It's an hour away, and I already know I'm going to get lost at _least_ once. But if you needed me to take Ellie to school, I can manage!" The blonde's face fell as she nervously chewed on her lip. "Somehow..."

Halle just shook her head no as she wrapped up washing the dishes. "No, no... It's fine. I'll be a little late to work, but it's alright. Kirisawa will understand."

Sam frowned a little, but instantly sighed as she conceded. "Alright... If you say so." She gestured to her bag that was strung around her shoulder. "I packed myself a change of normal people clothes for after the interview, too. I _hate_ these fancy businesswomen outfits I have to wear for work... I want to look cute!"

Halle just smiled wryly and clapped Sam on the shoulder as she strode out of the kitchen. "Go ahead and get going, Sam. I don't want you to be late."

"Alright, love." Sam waved good-bye and quickly grabbed her purse and keys, already running a little late as she bolted towards the front door. "I'm off!"

"See you later!" Halle laughed as she disappeared into her bedroom, and she listened to the sound of the front door click shut.

Halle crossed her bedroom and headed straight for the bath, taking a quick shower. She got dressed into her usual white, button-up blouse that had the sleeves rolled half up, her black work slacks, and her black floor-length trench coat. Halle combed through her light brown bob and dried it, then quickly put on her usual, light amount of makeup. She threw on her designer heels and grabbed her car keys and cell phone off of her nightstand, and she walked out into the living room to find Ellie waiting for her in her adorable school uniform with her pink backpack on her shoulders.

"Come on, mommy!" Ellie leapt up from the couch and dashed towards the door, eager to get to school.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Halle laughed as she opened the front door, and Ellie ran right past her as Halle lingered for a moment to lock it behind her. "Let's get to the car now."

Halle and Ellie took the elevator down to the first floor of her apartment complex, which wasn't all that fancy at all. It looked like a pretty standard, average-person's apartment complex. However, once you got into the parking lot, the jet black 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray sitting in Halle's parking spot stood out more than just a little bit.

Halle and Ellie got into the car and drove off to Ellie's public elementary school. Brad had been the only one in their family to go to private school, and he _hated_ it, so Halle was enlisted in public schools as a child, just how like Ellie was now.

Halle pulled up in front of Ellie's school and stopped the car, and she reached over and gave her daughter a big kiss on her forehead. "Have a good day at school, honey."

"Okay." Ellie grabbed her backpack and got out of the car, and she closed the door behind her as she turned to wave good-bye to her mother. "Bye, mom!"

"See you later!" Halle waved good-bye and felt heartbroken as she watched her daughter go, always feeling this way any time she dropped her off at school instead of Sam. "Alright, now I seriously have _got_ to get to work..."

Halle sped off in her sports car and zoomed down the roads as she headed for the MPD. She was there within ten minutes, and she parked in her reserved parking spot.

How the guys had never seen her flashy sports car before, she had no idea. But she supposed they would _eventually_ find out, and Halle knew that when they did, it was _not_ going to be pretty...

"Sigh..." Halle stared at her reflection in her car door once she closed it, having a somber look on her face. "How am I supposed to tell them about my family...?"

Halle figured that eventually the guys were going to find out that she was _that_ Mitchell, and she was totally loaded. They already found out about Ellie, which she didn't intend on letting them know in the first place, but that was an accident. She really didn't want them to know that she was the heiress of M.I.C. Incorporated, because then that would just make things awkward. She wanted to earn their respect as a _detective_ , not as some rich girl who was just playing cop in her spare time. Halle really didn't want them to get the wrong idea about her, and that was why she had kept her personal life so secret all this time.

And besides... She really didn't want them to meet her family anyways. Well, at least she didn't want them to meet her _parents_.

As these thoughts swarmed her mind, Halle walked through the MPD building and mindlessly went up the elevator to the seventh floor. As she approached Second Unit's office, she hesitated before turning the door knob. Kirisawa wouldn't be mad that she was ten minutes late, right...?

...

Halle jerked the door open and rushed inside, and she instantly saw that everyone was just sitting down to the morning debrief. "I'm sorry I'm late! I had to take my kid to school..."

Kirisawa looked up from his desk and simply nodded his head, and he gestured her to sit down. "It's fine, Mitchell. You're usually pretty good about being punctual, so I figured your tardiness today was unavoidable."

"It was." Halle answered shortly before awkwardly sitting down at her desk next to Hanai, refusing to look at him.

During the entire morning debrief, which mainly consisted of Tennoji reporting to Kirisawa what his findings were on the voyeur case, Halle could _not_ get Hanai out of her head. After realizing what she felt towards Hanai last night, she had the _worst_ night's sleep of her life. She couldn't sleep, or focus, or think straight... It was awful. Developing feelings for her partner? Well, _former_ partner? How could she be so stupid! Workplace romance was a _bad_ idea, and besides...

It was _Hanai_. Kazusa Hanai, of all men she could have fallen for! Halle didn't know how, or _when_ she had developed feelings for the stupid, arrogant braggart, but she did know one thing.

She had to give up on these feelings, no matter what.

Kirisawa closed his case file and dropped it down onto his desk, bringing this meeting to a close. "Alright, that's all. You guys are good to resume your cases for..."

A sudden knock on the door cut off Kirisawa mid-sentence, and everyone's eyes were immediately drawn to it. Kana, Special Investigations' main secretary, hesitantly poked her head in the door. "Halle? Um, sorry to interrupt, but someone is here to see you."

Halle never looked more shocked in her life as she stared at the brunette woman. "What...?"

Hanai glanced over at Halle curiously. "Who's here to see you?"

As Halle turned her head and began to say, "I have no idea..." her words suddenly froze when she watched Kana remove herself from the door, and someone else stepped inside.

Brad.

Halle's eyes grew wide, and she clapped her hands over her mouth as she slowly rose from her chair. Tears began pricking at her eyes, and her lip trembled as she locked eyes with her older brother.

Brad Mitchell, the six foot tall, handsome man standing in the door with short, dark brown hair, smiled brightly at Halle and thrust his arms open wide as his raspberry-colored eyes met hers. "Honey, I'm hoooome~!"

"Oh my god!" Halle shrieked joyously and took her hands off of her face, and she immediately ran at Brad and jumped into his arms, crying tears of joy.

Brad just laughed and spun his sister around in a circle, and he hugged her tightly. "Uh...surprise?"

Halle laughed a little through her tears, and she pulled back to look at Brad. "What are you doing home!? I thought you weren't supposed to be back for a few more _days!"_

Brad grinned sheepishly at that, and he reached back to grab the back of his neck. "Weeeell... I sort of tried to rush my work overseas so I could come home early and surprise you?"

Halle just stared at him unbelievably before she laughed again, and she squished him in a death-grip as she hugged her brother again. "Well, I'm definitely surprised!"

Hanai stared on in shock, recognizing the man embracing Halle immediately. He was the very same man in both the photo on her desk, and the one on the wall at her house: Halle's boyfriend.

Hanai looked away from the two hugging each other, feeling like he had just been kicked in the gut from the sight of another man embracing his partner. Er, ex partner, whatever. It was all the same to Hanai, and it just made him feel uncomfortable in ways he didn't even understand himself.

Halle, who was still crying, suddenly grew angry in Brad's arms as she began pounding on his chest with her closed fists. "You jerk! I haven't seen you in over four _months_ , and you've barely called or texted me at all! I can't believe you!"

"Ow ow ow OW!" Brad recoiled with every punch, putting his arms up to defend himself. "I'm sorry, Halle, just...OW! Quit hitting me!"

"NO!"

"Ow ow ow!"

Kyobashi looked somewhat pleased and disgusted with their lovers quarrel, smirking a little as he looked their way. "Mitchell, go fight with your boyfriend elsewhere. We have work to do."

Halle and Brad both just froze, turning to stare at Kyobashi and absolute shock. And then, after taking a few seconds to process what he had just said, Halle just started to _laugh_.

"My...boyfriend?" Halle laughed so hard that more tears were brought to her eyes as she tried to wipe them away. "No, no! You've got the wrong idea!" She turned to Brad and placed a hand on his arm, and she looked back at the guys. "Guys, allow me to introduce you to Brad: my older brother."

A look of surprise came up on each of the Second Unit guys' faces, but no one's face rivaled that of Hanai's.

"...this is your _brother?"_ Hanai pointed to Brad, resisting the urge to slap his forehead in front of everyone.

"Oh, man!" Tennoji laughed and slapped his knee, almost as if he was relieved. "For a second there, I thought Mitchell had tricked some poor bastard into dating her!"

Halle's jaw fell open angrily at that. "Hey!"

As the brunette's complaint fell on deaf ears, one of the First Unit detectives quietly stepped in and made his way to Tennoji. He whispered something to him under his breath, which caused the red-head to immediately raise his brow in shock.

"What...!?" Tennoji looked at the First Unit detective in shock, unable to believe this.

Halle stopped yelling at the other guys for being mean to her and turned around, curiously locking eyes with Tennoji. "What is it?"

Tennoji awkwardly shuffled in place as a slight blush rose to his face, and he ran a hand through his spiky hair. "Er...First Unit brought in a hooker they arrested today and put her in one of the interrogation rooms, and she requested to talk to _me_ specifically."

...

"WHAT!?"

* * *

Two hours _earlier_...

"Oh, thank god _that_ is over..." Sam stepped out of the private elementary school's teacher bathroom, now sporting denim shorts, crazy high hot pink stilettos, and a white ruffle crop top. She pulled out the hair pin holding her bun up and let her curly blonde hair tumble down her shoulders, and she stuffed her business clothes back into her purse as she began to leave the school. "I think that interview went fairly well, and I feel much better now that I'm changed into _normal_ clothes..."

Sam suddenly felt eyes on her, and she looked down to see a little girl with black twintails that was dressed in the private school's uniform, who was staring up at Sam in complete shock and horror.

Sam just drew her head back, flashing the kid a dirty look. "What are you looking at?" She watched the girl shrink back and take off running, shaking her head to herself. "Bollocks... It's as if these sheltered children have never seen _fashion_ before!"

Sam's phone buzzed, and she looked down to see that her alarm was going off. The reminder 'call Halle' popped up on her screen, and she instantly muttered, "oh, bugger," to herself as she picked up the phone and hit number one on her speed dial. When Halle didn't answer, Sam got a little worried, but she figured the brunette was probably just driving to work and couldn't pick up. She wanted to check on her best friend to see if everything went alright, but oh well. Maybe later.

"Right then, I should probably pop on back home now..." Sam talked out loud to herself as she guided herself out the private school's front door, heading straight for the parking lot.

She found her navy blue 2015 Ford Explorer pretty quick, and she clicked the key fob to unlock it as Sam approached her car. She slid into the driver's seat and turned the key, instantly getting to work on plugging in her home address into the car's GPS system.

"Oh I just absolutely _detest_ these things..." Sam grumbled out loud to herself as she fiddled with the GPS system, occasionally smacking it with the palm of her hand when it didn't do what she wanted. "Come on, don't be such a daft cow and just work already!"

 _"Turn right onto Cherryblossom Blvd. in approximately 3.2 miles..."_

Sam screwed up her face in confusion as she glanced back and forth between the road and her GPS system, warily pulling out of her parking space. "Well, _that_ doesn't sound right..."

Half an hour passed, and several wrong turns were made. Sam continued to curse at her GPS system as she proceeded to get horribly lost somewhere in Tokyo, and at this point, the GPS was more harmful than helpful. How did _this_ happen...? She got to the school just fine! Just...going home was different.

"Oh, bloody hell." Sam sharply turned the steering wheel and pulled over on the side of the road, completely fed up. "I'm just going to ask somebody for directions..."

The blonde climbed out of her car and jumped up to the sidewalk next to where she parked, and she spotted a group of ladies standing on the corner down the road a little bit. Maybe they would know where she had managed to get herself lost in?

"Excuse me!" Sam waved to the provocatively dressed women all sporting unnaturally high heels and skimpy, flashy clothing. "Can one of you tell me where I am? I seem to have gotten a bit turned around."

One of the women who had gorgeous, dark chocolate skin and voluminous caramel hair turned and looked Sam up and down, screwing her face up in disgust. "What do you think you're doing? Go away, cue-tip. I'm working here."

Sam just huffed, crossing her arms. "Look, I'm just a bit lost. My GPS is broke. Can you just tell me where I..."

The group of ladies all jolted when the whoop whoop sound of a police siren rang through the air, and the flashing blue and red lights were all it took to cause the panicked women to take off running and scatter.

Sam turned around in circles, completely confused as she watched everyone go. "What? Where are you all going...!?"

One of the police officers got out of the car and approached Sam, pulling out a pair of handcuffs. "Ma'am, you're under arrest for the suspicion of prostitution. Please turn around and put your hands on your head."

Sam dropped her jaw and glared at the man. "Wait, what? No, I'm not a..." She paused when everything suddenly dawned on her, and her face visibly fell as she cursed under her breath. "Oh, bugger..."

* * *

Tennoji walked down the third floor's hallway of the MPD building and approached Interrogation Room B, feeling a little weird as he did so. Why did a hooker specifically request to speak to _him?_ He had no idea. Tennoji wasn't a low life that actually used hookers; he had too much honor and respect to go _that_ low.

The red-head turned the knob of the Interrogation Room door and pushed it open, and as soon as he set one foot inside, he just sighed and resisted the urge to smack his forehead.

"Hello, darling." Sam smiled bitterly at him, resting her head in her hand. "Miss me?"

Tennoji closed the door behind him and cautiously approached the steel table, slowly sitting down in the chair opposite of her. "I thought you were an elementary school teacher, _not_ a prostitute."

"I am!" Sam threw her arms open in exasperation. "They falsely arrested me!"

Tennoji just gave her one look and sighed, and he reached up to rub the headache from his temples. "Okay, okay... Tell me what happened."

"Well..." Sam scoffed, begging her story. "So, I was on my way back home from a job interview when I got lost, and I simply just pulled over and asked for directions!"

Tennoji just had this look of 'I don't like where this is going' on his face as he blankly stared ahead at Sam. "Uh huh."

Sam frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. "How was I supposed to know the women I was asking for directions were bloody hookers!?"

Tennoji slapped his forehead and slowly dragged his hand down his face. "They way they were dressed and the fact that they were standing on a street corner didn't raise a red flag with you?"

Sam threw her hands up into the air in exasperation. "What? I just thought they were fashionable!" She abruptly stood up from her chair and walked over to Tennoji, allowing him to get a full look of her figure. "They were dressed just like me!"

Tennoji awkwardly avoided staring at her for too long, struggling not to trip over his words a little as he covered his eyes with his hand. "Yeah, I can't see why the arresting officer mistook _you_ for a prostitute at all."

Sam took offense to his obvious sarcasm, throwing her head back a little as she scoffed. "Hey now, I'm not a bloody hooker! Unlike those women, I'm the real deal; my tits aren't fake!" She grabbed her D-cup chest for emphasis, causing Tennoji's face to flush red as the awkward gentleman averted his eyes once more.

"Umm... Well, I'm going to formally drop all charges against you." Tennoji looked _anywhere_ but at her as he shuffled a stack of paperwork in his hands, trying to calm the nervous blush on his face. "You're free to go, ma'am."

"Ma'am?" Sam drew her head back and smirked wryly at him. "Love, you can just call me Sam. No need for the formalities."

"Sam." Tennoji stood up and nodded his head to her as he corrected himself, motioning to leave. "I'll go take care of this."

"Wait!" Sam reached out and grabbed his arm, causing the very muscular, six-foot-tall detective to come to a complete stop. "Please don't tell Halle about this! I'd be so embarrassed if she found out..."

Tennoji just exhaled, "ah," as everything just sort of clicked with him. "So _that's_ why you specifically requested to speak to me."

Sam nodded her head. "Yeah. And, also..." She took one big stride to put herself in-between Tennoji and the door, blocking his exit. " _You_ never called me! Good grief, you practically gave me the collywobbles because you never called..."

"The what?" Tennoji just laughed at her, crossing his arms over his chest.

"The collywobbles!" Sam stomped her foot in comprehension, trying to act serious while holding back her laugh. "You know, anxiety and nervousness that causes stomach pain!"

"Ah..." Tennoji let out the breath he was holding with a laugh, running a hand through his hair. "And ah, why did you get...er, the 'collywobbles'?"

Sam just narrowed her eyes and reached out to punch him in the shoulder, which earned her an 'ow!' from the red-headed detective. "Because I really like you, you prick!"

Tennoji's eyes snapped wide open, and he stared straight ahead at her in shock. "I...wait, what?"

Sam just huffed and blew her bangs out of her face, slumping a little. "Do I intimidate you or something?"

Tennoji just looked at her. "A little."

"Geez!" Sam reached out to punch him again, but Tennoji caught her fist this time and blocked her strike. "Are all of you blokes this stupid?"

Tennoji just calmly released her fist from his grasp, and he took a step back away from her. "Look, I..."

Sam took three steps forwards and closed the distance between them, interrupting him mid-sentence. "Just one date. That's all I'm asking."

Tennoji's eyebrows shot up into his hairline, and he slowly relaxed his shoulders as a tiny smile came to his face. "...alright. One date."

"Yes!" Sam cheered victoriously as she punched the air with her fist. "Er... Do you mind if our first date starts with picking up my Explorer from the impound lot?"

Tennoji just looked at her for the longest time before busting out into a fit of laughter. "Not at all. Wanna grab burgers after?" He opened the door for her courteously as he spoke.

Sam stepped through the door and walked side-by-side with Tennoji, who casually swung his arm around her shoulders. "Definitely! Can we go to a sports bar, though? There's a Tigers game on tonight, and I _really_ don't want to miss it..."

Tennoji stared at her in complete awe and amazement. "You...like the Tigers?"

"Of course, love." Sam smirked mischievously. "Did you forget that I also play baseball myself?"

Tennoji grinned brightly as he pulled her closer into his side. "You know, I don't think this date will be our last."

Sam just chortled loudly in response. "I'd be happy to go on a second!"

* * *

 **I'm literally screaming XDDDDDD I can't BELIEVE I was able to write this chapter through the tears of my intense laughter. I've been planning to do this for so long, sorry it took awhile to write, guys!**

 **So... Sam x Tennoji ship confirmed XD that was also planned from the start. What do you guys think?**

 **Also...you guys got to meet Brad! The look on Hanai's face when he found out he was her brother... PRICELESS XDDDDDD**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


	23. Chapter 23

"So... Let me get this straight. I have to pretend to be your girlfriend for the sake of this case, even though you actually _have_ a girlfriend, who is also my best friend."

"Yeah. Weren't you listenin' at all, Mitchell?"

Halle opened her mouth to say something as she dubiously stared at her temporary partner Tennoji, but she just sighed and gave up trying to win this battle. "Ugh... Never mind."

Halle and Tennoji just finished up patrolling for the voyeur case, and they were walking back from the park to where they parked Tennoji's unmarked police car. It was noon, and the sun was shining right above them as they walked down the sidewalk.

Tennoji looked over at the shorter girl detective, uncharacteristically serious for a change. "Y'know, Mitchell, I really like Sam. It'd mean a lot to her if we got along."

Halle smirked a little all-knowingly as she crossed her arms. "Yeah, I know you do. So for her sake, I'll try not to butt heads with you too often."

"Butt heads with me? I'm pretty sure you'd have'ta jump to reach..."

"HEY! I'M NOT THAT SHORT!"

Tennoji threw back his head and laughed as the tiny girl detective punched his arm, and he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Alright, Mitchell, where to next?"

Halle shot him the weirdest look ever. "Uh, back to Second Unit. I get off in half an hour, remember?"

"Wait, what?" Tennoji quickly looked at her in shock before remembering this conversation from earlier as he came to a stop in front of a newsstand. "Oh, yeah, yeah, right... Why are you cuttin' out early again?"

Halle just looked plain annoyed as she crossed her arms over her chest, standing next to a magazine rack. "Family stuff I couldn't get out of. Trust me, I'd rather be working..."

Halle sighed and absently looked off to the side at the magazine rack, and her eyes suddenly landed themselves on this month's issue of "Successful Women in Japan," which had her _right on the front cover_. She widened her eyes in horror at the hot model pose she was striking for the magazine cover, remembering that photo shoot two weeks ago fully as she quickly stepped in front of the magazine rack and blocked Tennoji from seeing her on any of the magazines.

Tennoji just looked at her strangely. "Oh-kay... You alright, Mitchell? You're acting kinda weird..."

Halle just nonchalantly adjusted herself to cover up the magazine rack even more. "Yeah. I'm fine. Why?"

Tennoji just shook the confusion from his face. "No reason..."

* * *

"Where's Mitchell?" Hanai looked around the Second Unit office a little puzzled, confused as to where the little brunette was.

Yachigusa smirked a little wryly in Hanai's direction. "She's not working today, remember? She took the day off."

Hanai just looked completely lost as he awkwardly remembered that Halle did, in fact, take this evening off. "Oh yeah... That's right."

Yachigusa sighed happily a little as he shook his head. "What's gotten into you, man?"

Before Hanai could answer that, Kirisawa strode into the office and firmly clapped his hands together with a loud crack. "Alright, guys. Drop what you're doing, because we've been assigned to work security for an event tonight."

"What?" Tennoji looked at his boss in confusion. "The hell...are all the other units busy tonight or somethin'?"

"No." Kirisawa took a puff of his cigarette as he calmly strode over to his desk chair and sat down in it, and all of the other men followed his lead and took a seat in their respected chairs as well. "Nomura just asked me to take care of this personally, since the people we'll be guarding are of a higher, more sophisticated class."

"Oh, really?" Kyobashi's interest was piqued at that. "Who exactly put in a request for a police security detail?"

"The CEO of M.I.C. Incorporated himself." Kirisawa lightly tossed the case file onto the table, giving any of the other men at the table permission to look at it.

"Whoa, seriously?" Yachigusa widened his eyes in shock at that. "What's the matter?"

Kirisawa folded his arms across his chest. "Tonight, M.I.C. Incorporated's CEO Akihiro Mitchell requested that our unit attend the party they are throwing to celebrate the company's twentieth anniversary. He's received some threats on his life in the past few weeks from anonymous senders. So far it seems to be only that: threats. However, he would like to take precautionary measures just in case."

"Of course." Hanai nodded his head, resting his chin on his fist. "Sounds reasonable. I assume this is a large, formal celebratory party that will require tuxedos?"

"Naturally." Asano blankly stared at Hanai.

"Aww, man..." Tennoji snapped his fingers and pouted furiously at that news. "I hate wearin' those damn things..."

Yachigusa slyly slid right up next to Tennoji with a smirk on his face. "Buuuut I'm sure it would score you some serious points with Sam if you wore one. Girls _do_ dig guys in suits..."

Tennoji stared blankly ahead as he grabbed his car keys off of his desk and immediately left for the front door. "Well, I'm off to the tux rental place. See you guys tonight!"

Asano lightly chuckled under his breath. "That sure got him out of here fast..."

Kirisawa looked around the room curiously before landing his eyes on Kyobashi's empty desk. "Hey, where did Kyobashi run off to?"

Hanai just smirked and crossed his arms. "I'm pretty sure he ducked out as soon as Yachigusa mentioned there would be ladies at tonight's party."

"Sigh..." Kirisawa rubbed the stress from his forehead before snapping back up and bouncing back again. "Alright, guys. Let's go get ready. Party starts in... Two hours."

* * *

The party was just what Second Unit expected it to be: huge, glamorous, and filled with _tons_ of rich people. The party was being held in a convention center downtown, occupying the largest exhibition hall available. There were at least three thousand guests, including the press and reporters from every magazine imaginable. Famous celebrities occupied the halls, and the upper class dressed in the most expensive clothes walked back and forth as the cameras flashed. The back of the exhibition hall was occupied by a plus sign-shaped runway and stage decorated with lights, and a podium was positioned at the very center. Any moment now the CEO and his wife would step up on stage and deliver their speech, and the Second Unit guys had just arrived and divided up to take their posts.

"North entrance is clear." Kirisawa spoke his status update into his earpiece, scanning the crowd for any suspicious activity.

"Same here at the south entrance." Tennoji added.

"And west." Kyobashi reported.

"East too." Yachigusa chimed in.

"Emergency exists and stairways are clear." Asano calmly added.

"And I'm still stationed by the center stage and runway." Hanai reported in. "Nothing suspicious to report so far."

"Good." Kirisawa nodded his head. "Keep an eye out, guys. I sincerely doubt we'll have to apprehend anyone at all, so as long as you keep to your posts and stay on your guard, I don't mind if you enjoy the party a little."

"Thanks, Boss!"

An intense round of applause directed everyone's attention to the stage as CEO Akihiro Mitchell and his wife, Georgiana Mitchell took the stage. They were both exceptionally dressed as they waved hello to their celebrity guests and stockholders, and Akihiro took his place at the podium as his wife stood by him arm in arm.

"Thank you all for coming today to help us celebrate M.I.C. Incorporated's twentieth anniversary." Akihiro grinned brightly as he held a hand up to his guests, who all cheered and clapped for the graying fifty-two year old. "When I started this company twenty years ago, I had no idea it would become such a success. It all started with one simple smartphone, and now the company produces and manufactures not only those, but tablets, laptops, and other smart devices that are used in smart cars." Another roar of applause encouraged the CEO to keep going. "I could never have gotten this far without your support, and I'd like to take a moment to thank M.I.C.'s doting stockholders who have made the company what it is today." Akihiro looked to the left at him wife, who he ushered to take the podium. "And now, my wife Georgiana has a few words."

Georgiana, who looked much younger than her husband, was forty-five with naturally deep burnt orange-colored hair done up into a fancy up do, and she was wearing a black dress that hugged her figure and reached the floor. Although she was very beautiful, the French heiress's face was covered in makeup, and she smiled with her bright red lips as she stepped in front of the microphone to say a few words.

"Why do people even come to things like this?" Tennoji impatiently asked his question into his earpiece, still manning his post.

"Beats me." Yachigusa shrugged his shoulders.

"It's just an anniversary event, guys." Hanai rolled his eyes a little. "Personally, I'd rather be spending my time seeing an orchestra in concert, but I guess the people really involved in this company are the ones who really want to be here right now to celebrate its progress."

"Hanai's right." Kirisawa added firmly. "Now, guys, don't forget why we're here. I know the speeches are a little boring, but we're here to run security and keep these guys safe, so let's make sure we don't lose focus."

"Yes sir."

And with that, Hanai ignored the radio silence as he remained standing up front by the runways. He was mixed in with all the press and reporters with their flashy cameras, who were snapping photos left and right. He was starting to get a headache from all the flashes when something Georgiana Mitchell said caught his attention.

"...and now, what's a party without the whole family?" Georgiana wore a mysterious smile on her face, and Hanai felt uncomfortable with how unlike most people, Georgiana was almost completely unreadable. Her emotions were completely hidden from the profiler. "Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present to you my son and daughter: Brad and Halle Mitchell!"

Brad Mitchell came strutting out onto one side of the runway, parting the curtains he was hiding behind with a huge smile on his face as he walked towards his parents at the center stage. He grinned and waved to the crowd, smiling for the several cameras snapping his picture as the crowd roared.

But the crowd's roar and number of camera flashes for Brad were _nothing_ compared to the ones for Halle.

Halle Mitchell came out from behind the curtains on the opposite side of the runway, walking towards the center stage at the same time as Brad with the most lovely smile on her face as the crowd of her adoring fans began chanting her name. She was wearing the most beautiful dark blue, midnight-colored mermaid dress that was covered in glittering diamonds that acted as rhinestones. Her dress caught the light with every movement, and it was easily worth three million. Her diamond studded shoes and designer diamond necklace and earrings completed the look, and her chestnut-brown hair was left down due to its short length, although it was accented by a diamond hair pin in the shape of a star.

"Oh my god, there she is! Halle Mitchell!" One of the reporters standing next to Hanai freaked out as she came closer, and he held up his camera for her. "Hey, gorgeous, smile for the camera!"

Halle saw the reporter and turned just in time for him to snap her picture, catching her twirl just in time to get a stunning photo of her enchanting dress spinning as her natural smile completed that million dollar photo. The reporter shrieked excitedly as he admired what an amazing photo he took as he nudged Hanai's arm with his elbow. "Oh man, just _look_ at this beauty!" He reached over and showed Hanai his amazing photo. "Don't you just love it when celebrities actually cooperate with the press?"

But the man's question went unheard as Hanai stared ahead at Halle strutting across the runway in absolute shock.

That was...Halle. Halle Mitchell. His _partner_ Halle.

...

She was _that_ Mitchell...?

But Hanai wasn't the only one in shock.

"Holy... Guys, is that Halle?" Yachigusa dropped his jaw as he stared ahead, coming back onto the radio as he asked the other guys his question.

"I think so..." Asano blinked owlishly, more than just a little caught off guard by this.

Kirisawa was completely out of it as he watched her cross the stage. "What... How could I have missed that?"

"None of us knew." Kyobashi added.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me." Tennoji angrily crushed the glass he was holding in his hand, ignoring the startled people around him that were now staring at him oddly. "She didn't tell us something _this_ important!?"

"Tennoji, I'm sure she had a good reason..." Yachigusa commented, although he hung his head low, feeling completely dejected and hurt by Halle's secrecy.

"Hanai, say something." Tennoji angrily gritted his teeth together. "Did you know?"

"No..." Hanai absentmindedly shook his head back and forth. "No, I didn't..."

"We should have noticed something like this sooner..." Yachigusa sighed half-heartedly. "How could we have missed this, seriously? I'm sure she's all over the news and in magazines because of her family..."

When Yachigusa mentioned her being in magazines, Tennoji just shut his eyes tightly in anger as he remembered how weird Halle was acting around the magazine rack this morning. "Damn it... She was totally keeping this from us!"

"Guys, calm down." Kirisawa gave his strict order over the radio. "I'm sure we'll get a chance to talk to her later to straighten things up, but right now we have a job to do."

"Yes, Boss..."

But Hanai just couldn't snap out of it, despite Kirisawa's order. He wasn't even mad that she kept something like this a secret from him, he was just upset that he didn't figure this out before. After all, he _was_ a criminal profiler. He should have been able to figure out something this huge about his partner from the very beginning.

As Hanai continued to beat himself up about not figuring out Halle's secret sooner, he began remembering things that she had said and done over the past few months that he should have immediately flagged as suspicious.

Like the first time they argued over who would pay for lunch at the bakery.

 _"...I can pay for my own lunch, you know."_

 _"Today's my treat."_

 _"No, really... I'll pay for what I got."_

 _"Don't worry about it."_

 _"But..."_

 _"I said it's fine."_

 _"No, Hanai, I should pay..."_

 _"Let it go already!"_

 _..._

 _"No one has ever done something like that for me before..."_

 _"Did you say something?"_

 _"No, nothing..."_

Or when Halle was telling him a little about her family's expectations of her, back when they were still working the drug bust case at Johoku University.

 _"You know, I almost went to that university."_

 _"Really? But it's not a police academy... What made you change your mind?"_

 _"Oh, my mind never changed. I've wanted to be a detective since I was nine; my parents are the ones who pushed me to go to that school."_

 _"Why?"_

 _"They don't want me to be a detective... They have never approved of me, or my decisions. To them, I'm just a child, and I shouldn't be working a dangerous job like this. I apparently should be working for them and the family business. My parents wanted me to study engineering and business at that school, but I disobeyed them and enrolled in the police academy instead."_

 _"Oh. Your parents had a specific future for you set in their minds, huh?"_

 _"Hah! That's the understatement of the century. My mother hates that I'm a detective, and she's always telling me it's unladylike and I should just quit and marry some nice guy, and settle down to have a family. Bo-ring. I have no intention of doing that."_

 _..._

 _"I just hope I can become the kind of detective they can be proud of... I'm tired of being a disappointment."_

And then there was that time on the rooftop Halle had been asking him about First Unit sweeping in and stealing his arrest after the drug bust case...

 _"Um, Hanai..."_

 _"What? What is it?"_

 _"Um, can I ask you a question?"_

 _"What?"_

 _"Today, when we were undercover and First Unit showed up..."_

 _"Oh, that. What about it?"_

 _"Well... Why couldn't you cuff the suspect yourself? It was like the First Unit guys just cut in and stole your arrest."_

 _"It's not about who gets the credit."_

 _"But isn't that upsetting?"_

 _"It's not like I became a detective for the glory. It doesn't matter if the credit goes to me or to First Unit. What matters is closing cases. What matters is protecting people and preventing crimes from happening, and catching criminals is a part of that. Do you understand what I'm saying?"_

 _"More than you could possibly know..."_

 _"I can't live with the idea of terrible things happening to innocent people."_

 _"Well, unfortunately, bad things happen to good people all the time. Myself included."_

 _"Mitchell, what do you mean?"_

 _"Maybe I'll tell you someday."_

And then, of course, when Halle's bag was stolen...

 _"Ah, my bag!"_

 _"Let's make sure everything is in there."_

 _"...it's not here."_

 _"Huh?"_

 _"The pendant my mother gave me is gone... The clasp broke today, and I was going to fix it when I got home, so I put it in my bag. It was in the same pocket as my wallet."_

 _"It must have fallen out when he took out your wallet..."_

 _"No...! It's a protection pendant my mother gave me when I was little, back before she became unbearable... It's really important to me."_

 _"...let's look for it."_

But of course, the _biggest_ tip off should have been when Halle was leaving his place after their dumpster-diving adventure.

 _"Hanai, I should probably be getting home."_

 _"Okay, I'll call you a taxi."_

 _"Thank you. I really appreciate that."_

 _"More importantly...do you have enough for cab fare?"_

 _"Money really isn't a problem for me."_

She was always mysteriously disappearing, but Hanai had recently learned that was because she was a single mother who had to take care of Ellie off and on. Her brother Brad who's job required him to travel and be away all the time? He was the VP of M.I.C. Incorporated, and it was now all starting to make perfect sense to Hanai. Halle took off work tonight to come to this party, she hardly ever mentioned her family or her personal life, and she certainly never _dared_ to talk about her past. She was always so secretive about everything, and now that Hanai knew the truth about who she really was, he just wanted to know why she tried so desperately to keep it from him. And he also wanted to know what was so bad that she felt she needed to keep it a secret?

"...and that concludes our celebratory speech for the evening." Brad clapped his hands together as he smiled brightly at the crowd, issuing a roar of applause. "Now, that's enough of me talking. Allow me to hand over the mic to the person you all _really_ came to see tonight: my little sister, Halle Mitchell!"

Halle laughed a little at the crowd's cheers and loud claps as she took her place at the podium, readying herself for her speech. "Hello, everyone! Are you all having a good time tonight?" The crowd screamed with cheers and applause at her question, causing Halle to chuckle. "Ah, well I'll take that as a yes, then! Now, I know it's _technically_ our twentieth anniversary party, but let's scratch the formalities and be real here: we're all only here for the free booze."

The audience roared with laughter at Halle's joke as she grinned mischievously. Brad laughed, her father shook his head with a smile on his face, and her mother looked utterly horrified at the crude joke her daughter made.

"I do have a surprise for you though. In just two months, we will be releasing our newest model of smartphone: the MIC 8!" Halle grinned as the cameras flashed and the applause only grew louder and louder, and she was practically glowing as she looked out into the crowd. "And with that, I will leave you to your evenings. Have a great night, and let's all celebrate our success together, everyone!"

And as the young brunette looked out into the crowd, no one seemed to notice as she paled in horror at the sight of Second Unit all standing together in the crowd, just looking at her with disappointed and displeased looks on their faces.

Halle took a hesitant step back as her smile faltered a little, and no one noticed that anything was amiss as she muttered under her breath, "oh shit..."

* * *

 **Ahh, sorry long time no update! This took a lot longer than anticipated to write. Anyways...**

 **Holy shit... Halle's cover is finally blown: the guys know the truth about her. This is only part 1/4 of the unveiling, so things are only going to get worse from here... This is totally going to blow up in her face, and you guys are going to both love and hate me for these next few chapters XD...**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


	24. Chapter 24

The crowd roared as Halle's closing speech came to an end, and the young brunette looked absolutely horrified as she locked eyes with her police unit standing out there in the crowd, looking directly at her. What on earth were _they_ doing here!?

"And there you have it!" Georgiana Mitchell clapped her hands and casually shoved her daughter aside, taking her place at the podium. "Next up, in just a little bit, Halle will be performing a grand debut of her singing and piano talents in order to help better entertain..."

Halle rolled her eyes and tuned out the rest of what her mother had to say as she discreetly left the stage and ducked behind the curtain, but before she could escape, someone grabbed a hold of her arm.

"Mom..." Halle widened her eyes in shock, staring directly into her mother's chilling grey eyes.

"Just where do you think you're going?" Georgiana disguised the ice in her tone as she smiled secretively at her youngest child.

Halle looked off to the side, avoiding eye contact with her mother. "Look, I did what you wanted, okay? I went out of my way just to come here for this event, since you're _obsessed_ with the media seeing us together as one big happy family, and now I'm done. I have things to do, so I'm going."

"Ahah, no you're not." Georgiana scoffed and stared at her daughter dubiously.

"But mom..." Halle slumped her shoulders instinctively. "I did everything you asked. What more do you want of me?"

"Well, to be frank..." Georgiana beat around the bush with a delicate smile on her face. "I want you to marry into the Livingston family."

Halle almost dropped her jaw at her mother's not-so-subtle revelation. "Wait, what?"

"It's a good match, you and Ferris Livingston." Georgiana gushed, clapping her gloves together excitedly. "I play bridge with his mother on Sundays, and we got to talking about our children, and we decided you two will be married! Ferris thought it was a wonderful idea once I showed him pictures of you, and..."

"Whoa whoa whoa, mom." Halle waved her hands back and forth defensively, shaking her head no. "You _decided_ I'll marry him? Where was I in this decision!?"

Georgiana scoffed a little as she looked her daughter up and down. "Well, your presence wasn't necessary, my darling. Trust me, your mother knows what's best for you, and this is a very advantageous marriage."

Halle's heart plummeted down into the deepest part of her stomach with a loud thud, and she looked completely crestfallen as she stared at her mother. "An arranged marriage... Mom, what for? We're already both rich and famous, so I don't understand what your end game is here in marrying me off to some guy I don't even know..."

"Ah, what a wonderful question!" Georgiana grinned excitedly as she elbowed her daughter's side and smirked devilishly. "I knew you would come around. The Livingstons are all anyone's talking about in France right now. They are so immensely popular for their oil business, and our reputation would be even further through the roof if our families married into one another!"

Halle looked horrified at this devious, scheming side of her mother that she was oh so used to seeing, and she just kept slowly shaking her head no back and forth. "No, mom, I'm not doing that..."

"What?" Georgiana curtly snapped her short response, not removing the fake smile plastered onto her face.

Halle quirked an eyebrow at her mother as she firmly crossed her arms over her chest. "Mom, there's no way I'm allowing you to set me up for an arranged marriage. I have no desire to get married right now, and especially not to someone I don't even know." She scoffed a little under her breath, straightening her posture as she spoke with disgust. "He only thought it was a good idea to marry once he saw pictures of me? Honestly, he sounds like a creep I'd arrest."

"How dare you say something like that!" Georgiana was horrified at her daughter's crude comment, and she placed her hand over her chest as she drew her head back in shock. "Young lady, I will not tolerate such slander against the prestigious Livingstons!"

Halle just rolled her eyes and turned to leave. "Then _don't_ tolerate it. I'm leaving."

Halle tuned out her mother's verbal slashing as she cringed and walked away from her, trying to not let her harsh words get to her as she quickly made her way to the green room in the back. Second Unit saw her here tonight, and she knew that's where they would be, so now it was time to face the music and tell the guys the truth. Not like she really had a choice in the matter now...

"Halle!" Yachigusa's surprised voice called the Second Unit guys' attention to the girl who just raced into the green room, and all eyes were suddenly on Halle.

Halle froze as she looked at the mixed emotions on everyone's faces, and she nervously began to twiddle her fingers as she felt the tense atmosphere the room contained. "Guys, I can explain..."

"Then get to explainin', Mitchell." Tennoji glared at the brunette with his arms crossed tightly over his chest.

"Yeah, Halle..." Yachigusa pouted a little, deeply upset with her deception. "Why didn't you tell us this is who you really are?"

"I..." Halle choked on the truth that was stuck in her throat, and no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't force herself to say it.

"Halle!"

The guys all watched as Halle suddenly cringed at her mother's voice calling her name, and Georgiana Mitchell came running into the green room in pursuit of the young brunette, accompanied by her husband and son.

"What are you doing, conversing with the security like this?" Georgiana screwed up her face in disgust as she glared at her daughter.

"Security?" Halle's eyebrows shot straight up into her hairline at the sound of that. "Mom, they're my police unit, not security. Wait a sec..." She shook her head to rid herself of her confusion, then looked over at Second Unit. "Guys, what are you even doing here in the first place?"

"We're on assignment, Mitchell." Kirisawa folded his arms over his chest, straightening his posture. "Your father asked us to come and act as a protective unit to ensure his safety tonight."

Halle never looked more bewildered than she did right now in this moment as she turned to face her father. "Dad, what is he talking about? Are you alright!?"

"It's fine, honey." Akihiro flashed his daughter a warm smile as he patted her head. "It's just a little..."

"Don't worry your pretty little head over it, darling." Georgiana cut her husband off mid-sentence, who seemed to shrink back in recoil at the harsh intensity of her voice. "Just let the _real_ detectives do their job."

Even though the guys were upset by what had just been revealed to them about one of their colleagues, they all couldn't help but wince at that obvious stab to Halle's heart.

Halle drew in a sharp breath at her mother's cruel words, and she reiterated herself as she flashed Georgiana a dubious look. "I _am_ a real detective..."

"About that..." Georgiana clapped her hands together with an innocent smile plastered across her face. "Enough is enough. I think it's about time you quit now."

"Mom...!" Halle snapped her eyes wide open in shock, accidentally yelling her surprise.

"Mom, just wait a sec..." Brad tried to step in and shield his sister from his mother's tongue-lashing, but it was no use.

"No, dear, you stay out of this." Georgiana silenced him with an outstretched palm and an icy look on her face. "This is between me and your sister." She turned her head back around to look at Halle, not looking as nice as she did before. "I've put up with this charade long enough, Halle. It's about time you came home and gave up this whole...distasteful lifestyle you've been living these past few years." She shot a chilling glare in the direction of the guys from Second Unit, looking them up and down with a look of disgust on her face.

Halle dropped her jaw at her mother's insult that was not only to her, but to the guys, too. Yachigusa couldn't help but remember that conversation he had with Halle in the stairway not too long ago about her mother, and he still couldn't believe what he was seeing. Tennoji was still pissed, but he was stunned at Georgiana Mitchell's true nature. Kyobashi had seen several manipulative women of power like Georgiana before, given that his father was the police chief of the MPD and he was used to seeing them, but it did surprise him that someone like that was related to the sunny and cheerful Halle Mitchell. Asano was accustomed to women always having an end game with a trick or two up their sleeve, but he was appalled by the behavior of Halle's mother behind the scenes, who was regrettably the _real_ Georgiana Mitchell, and not the one the press glamorized. Kirisawa couldn't hide his shock at Georgiana's cruelty, but who took the most from witnessing this conversation was Hanai.

He was a criminal profiler, and there were certain things about his former partner that he had figured out just by being with her, and over-analyzing every tiny piece of information she let slip about herself. He already knew her home life was rough, and her parents didn't support her career, but he couldn't have imagined it was anything like _this_...

"Mom, I'm not quitting." Halle clenched her fists with a new resolve, staring down her mother with intense animosity for the woman.

"What?" Georgiana clicked her sharp tongue as a vein bulged from her head.

Halle gulped nervously at her mother's dragon-like personality, taking a small, hesitant step backwards. "You heard me... I'm not quitting."

"This isn't a mere suggestion, Halle." Georgiana narrowed her eyes at her daughter, holding her breath as she crossed her arms over her chest. "It's an order."

"Mom!" Halle dropped her jaw as she cried out to protest.

"Mom, please..." Brad placed a hand on his mother's shoulder, trying to reason with her.

"Now hold on just a minute..." Akihiro turned to his wife with a remorseful look on his face. "Honey, don't you think we can just let Halle do whatever she..."

"Stay out of this, darling." Georgiana whipped her head around to redirect her glare to her husband. "This has nothing to do with you."

Akihiro's eyebrows suddenly jumped up in surprise, but he did not dare talk back to his wife and defend his daughter any further as he calmly backed down.

"Dad, please..." Halle looked to her father for help, staring into his pathetic eyes. She sighed at how easily her mother walked all over her doormat of a father, although she wasn't all that surprised, since her parents had always been like this.

Akihiro hesitantly glanced at his wife once more for confirmation before he lightly shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sorry, honey. There's nothing I can do. I trust that your mother knows what's best for you."

"What...!" Halle scoffed derisively. "You're kidding, right? She just wants me to come home so she can marry me off to some creepy rich guy I don't even know!"

"What?" Hanai snapped his eyes wide open at that, instantly alert and even more into the conversation than he was before.

"Yeah." Halle looked helplessly over at Hanai as her heart slammed against her chest, and she forced the butterflies back down as she faced off with her mother. "Mom, I won't agree to an arranged marriage, and I certainly won't quit my job."

"Halle Mitchell...!" Georgiana drew in a sharp breath of disappointment as she glared malevolently at her daughter. "Yes, you will. However, we will discuss this later." She gripped Halle's arm with a strong force, digging her nails into her skin as she jabbed a shaky finger in the direction of the stage. "Just go out there, get on stage, pull yourself together, and play the piano and sing like the good girl I know is in there somewhere. Our guests are expecting a performance from you."

The Second Unit guys winced at how hard Georgiana was jerking Halle around, and they thought for sure that this would be the spark that made Halle blew a fuse and go off on her mother, but they were more shocked than anyone at Halle's response.

"...alright." Halle cast her eyes down in shame, staring at anything but her police unit's horrified faces at her compliance. "Mom, please let go of me and allow me to entertain our guests..."

A sickening smile found its way to Georgiana's lips as she released her tight grip on her daughter's arm, revealing a red hand print and small dents from where her fingernails had been digging into Halle's skin. "Good. I'm so glad to hear that."

"What the..." Yachigusa was more than just a little stunned by what he just saw.

"Did she just..." Asano looked bewildered, expressing an emotion for once.

"Give in?" Hanai finished the sentence for him, staring at Halle with his jaw agape.

Halle swallowed hard to keep the tears down that were threatening to pour over onto her cheeks any second as she turned to leave the room, only to be grabbed by the arm by Brad on her way out.

"Halle, what are you doing?" Brad stared into his sister's eyes with a look of concern. "Come on, sis... Stand up for yourself!"

"Brad, you know I can't!" Halle exasperatedly slumped her posture, balling her hands into fists as she refused to look him in the eyes. "I've never been able to stand up to mom... You know that."

Brad seemed just as frustrated as she was. "But you always stand up for yourself, no matter who it is...!"

Halle turned to shoot her brother a quick, frustrated glare. "Exactly! Anyone who's not mom! She's the only one I can't stand up to, so I fight back against everyone else instead!"

"Halle..." Brad looked at his baby sister's expression of crushed hope with a frown on his face. "Please... Just this once, stand up to her. If not for you, then for me, okay? You can't just let her get away with bullying and pushing you around for the rest of your life!"

Halle stared into her brother's eyes for the longest time, as if she was searching for her answer in them. After a minute, Halle slowly nodded her head, and she left the green room with an idea.

Just this once. Just this once she would stand up to her mother.

Even if it cost her everything.

* * *

 **Holy crap... Not only did this take forever to write, BUT JUST LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED IN THIS CHAPTER! I just... I can't... *brain short-circuits* I can't even being to comprehend what to say, since so much happened XD**

 **So, Georgiana Mitchell... What a bitch, right? So much lead up to this character, and I've been dreading and yet anticipating writing her for a long time XD she's easily one of the most wicked characters I've ever written about. God, isn't she horrible to Halle? It just makes you want to scream and punch a wall, right? Especially since she belittles Halle so much that she makes our favorite, strong-willed heroine feel self conscious and unable to stand up for herself...**

 **So, what's Halle going to do? Well, I'm afraid you're just going to have to wait for part 3/4 of this arc to find out ;)**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


	25. Chapter 25

"Give it up for Halle Mitchell, everyone!"

The crowd roared as the announcer directed the spotlight onto Halle, who smiled and waved to the audience as she climbed up onto the stage. She took a seat at the grand piano and drew in a deep breath, and she looked out into the audience. Her eyes cut  
through the crowd and looked straight back at those waiting in the green room, and she locked eyes with her mother. She gulped nervously as her eyes wandered over to Brad, who shot her an encouraging grin and a thumbs up.

This was terrifying. She had never once stood up to her mother before, and now she was going to rebel for the first time...in front of a live audience.

Halle cleared her head and thought up the perfect song to play as she began running her fingers over the piano keys, beginning to sing King of Anything.

"Keep drinkin' coffee stare me down across the table, while I look outside. So many things I'd say if only I were able, but I just keep quiet and count the cars that pass by..." Halle's melodic voice rang out through the hall, and she looked straight  
at her mother as she continued to sing. "You've got opinions man, we're all entitled to 'em, but I never asked. So let me thank you for your time and try to not waste any more of mine, get out of here fast." She let a little smirk find its way  
to her lips as her confidence grew, and the song continued. "I hate to break it to you, babe, but I'm not drowning. There's no one here to save..." Halle took in a deep breath before beginning the chorus, noticing her mother's face in the crowd grow  
more and more red with anger. "Who cares if you disagree? You are not me. Who made you king of anything? So you dare tell me who to be? Who died and made you king of anything?" Halle closed her eyes and smiled as a huge weight seemed to lift from  
her shoulders, and as she put all of her heart and soul into her singing as her voice grew louder, she continued to play the piano. "You sound so innocent, all full of good intent, you swear you know best. But you expect me to jump up on board with  
you and ride off into your delusional sunset." She looked up from the piano and stared directly into her mother's eyes out in the crowd, attempting to get her point across. "I'm not the one who's lost, with no direction oh, but you'll never see. You're  
so busy makin' maps with my name on them in all caps. You've got the talkin' down, just not the listening. And who cares if you disagree? You are not me. Who made you king of anything? So you dare tell me who to be? Who died and made you king of anything?"  
Halle's angry, passionate singing voice calmed down to a quieter, melancholy tone as a dark, saddened look crossed her face. "All my life I've tried to make everybody happy while I just hurt and hide, waitin' for someone to tell me it's my turn to  
decide..." Her confidence boosted as she felt the lyrics were the story of her life, and she gallantly looked out into the crowd again. "Who cares if you disagree? You are not me. Who made you king of anything? So you dare tell me who to be? Who died  
and made you king of anything? Who cares if you disagree? You are not me. Who made you king of anything? So you dare tell me who to be? Who died and made you king of anything?" Halle hit the last key on the piano as the song came to a close, and she  
watched as her mother glared at her intensely from the crowd and she finished singing the last line. "Let me hold your crown, babe."

The crowd had no inkling of Halle's ulterior motive for singing that song, but they _loved_ it. Her fan base only seemed to grow as everyone in the audience clapped, cheered, and roared with words of approval, and the young brunette elegantly descended  
from the stage.

There... She did it. She stood up to her mother.

...and now it was time to face the consequences of that.

"Halle Mitchell...!" Georgiana raged, balling her hands into fists as her daughter stepped back into the green room. "What on earth were you thinking!? How could you, embarrassing me like this in front of our guests!?"

Halle's eyes dejectedly flickered to the ground for a brief moment, and then she looked up at her mother's angry expression. "Mom... Don't you get it? I've been trying to tell you this all along... I don't want you to tell me how to live my life. I'm  
tired of you trying to make me into someone I'm not." She sighed, tightening her fists in anger. "I don't want to marry into the Livingston family and settle down, I want to continue my work as a detective and live my own life...!"

"That's enough." Georgiana cut her off with a blank expression, holding up one hand to silence her. "I've had enough of this nonsense."

"Mom...!" Halle widened her eyes in shock, nearly shouting at her in surprise.

Second Unit awkwardly watched this argument ensue from the sidelines, trying to figure out just when was a good time to step in and break it up. But... Well, there really didn't seem to be an opening for that at all, so everyone just watched as the tension  
grew and the two women's voices got louder and louder. Brad awkwardly closed the door to the green room in fear of the guests hearing, having a feeling this was not going to be pretty.

"This really isn't the place to be having this conversation, dear." Georgiana leveled her malevolent glare at Halle, crossing her frail, bony arms tightly a less her chest.

"Well, when else am I going to get a chance to talk to you!?" Halle scoffed in disbelief as a pained look came across her face. "I feel like the only time I can actually grab your attention and get you to listen to me is if I go up on stage and sing a  
song about it!" She shouted her exasperation, trying to get her mother to listen with no avail.

Georgiana seemed to miss the point completely as she simply rose a thin eyebrow in Halle's direction. "And there will be great consequences for your reckless actions regarding that later." She sighed and pressed two fingers to her temple, closing her  
eyes in utmost disappointment. "I cannot _believe_ you had the audacity to go up on stage just now and flaunt your impropriety to our stockholders and party guests..."

"Impropriety!?" Halle dropped her jaw at that stab to her heart.

"Halle, I've had enough of this." Georgiana shook her eyes with a disappointed expression written all over her face, and she instantly put on a face that made her look like she was the victim in all of this. "Can't you see what strain your childish behavior  
has put upon your mother...?"

Halle threw her head back and scoffed derisively. "The strain put on _you_...? Are you kidding me!? How about the strain put on _me!"_ She placed her hand over her chest, shooting Georgiana an intense glare. "You've never once cared about what  
I want, and you've always forced me to bend to your will no matter the situation!" Her face softened a little as she stared off at a wall thoughtfully. "And in the past, I've always complied with your wishes, but now..."

"But now what, Halle?" Georgiana narrowed her eyes, completely fed up with her daughter's rebellious behavior this evening.

"...I'm sorry, but I can't give up my job as a detective." Halle said the words that all of Second Unit wanted to hear, and she rose her head up to meet Georgiana's stare. "I care about this too much, and being a detective is just who I am. If I ever  
gave that up, then... I would just _die."_

"Halle, stop talking such nonsense! I listened to your father and allowed you to pursue this career, but don't you think you've played detective long enough?" Georgiana huffed and crossed her arms as she stared at Halle in bewilderment. "It's about time  
you finally came back home, dear."

"Played detective...?" Halle slowly let those hurtful words roll off her tongue as she looked at her mother. "Mom, I was never doing this just for fun, I am completely serious about this career."

Georgiana rolled her eyes and couldn't help but laugh at her daughter's silly exclamation. "Hah, don't be so daft! People like us don't even have to work to provide for ourselves. Your skills will be utilized much more at home, especially after you marry  
Ferris..."

"For the last time, I am not going to marry him!" Halle interrupted Georgiana, cutting her mother off mid-sentence.

Georgiana paused for a moment in shock before quickly growing angry again. "Stop being so stubborn. You _will_ listen to what I say. I'm not asking, this is an order."

"No." Halle balled her hands up into tight fists and knitted her brows together. "I won't listen to this any more! Mom, I have no intention of getting married any time soon, and I most certainly will not agree to an arranged marriage. If I am ever going  
to get married, it will be to someone I love, and most certainly not someone you have set me up with."

Georgiana took offense to that as she took a step back in shock. "Now what is _that_ supposed to mean!?"

"I can't expect you to understand..." Halle looked off to the side depressingly as a grave look crossed her face. "You've never once cared for me in your entire life as your daughter, or even as a human being, so I can't possibly expect you to understand  
me..."

Georgiana almost looked hurt at that stab to her ego. "Now that's just not true... Of course I have! That's exactly why I set up this marriage, because I care about your future!"

"No, Mom." Halle looked directly through Georgiana's eyes with a soul-penetrating stare. "All you care about is what benefits my future can bring to you."

"Halle...!" Georgiana dropped her jaw so hard it almost looked like it would have snapped off and clattered to the floor.

"Just stop! I'm fed up with this, you pretending that you have no idea what I'm talking about...!" Halle angrily waved her arms in front of her body in a protective X. "You have always just seen me as a useless pawn on your chess board of lies and deceit  
and nothing more." She looked completely heartbroken as that feeling of neglect her mother had bestowed upon her as a child came crawling back. "Brad has always been your favorite... I wasn't even supposed to be born! It's always been this way! I've  
always felt like you have always resented me for merely existing, as if I'm some sort of burden on you..."

"Don't be ridiculous." Georgiana rolled her eyes.

"I'm not!" Halle snapped at her.

"Umm..." Brad and Akihiro simultaneously tried to cut into the argument and break it up, only to be cut off by the two arguing women at the same time.

"STAY OUT OF THIS!" Halle and Georgiana snapped at the two boys in unison.

Akihiro and Brad both zipped their lips as they awkwardly averted their gaze from being yelled at so suddenly.

"You've never _once_ been my mother." Halle appeared to be more lonely and heartbroken rather than angry as she looked to Georgiana for some sort of explanation. "A mother is _supposed_ to care for and love her daughter, support her, and be there  
for her... But all you ever did when I was a child was shut me in a room with my tutor and have me practice piano, work on my singing, or focus on my studies..." Her shoulders slumped as she began remembering her lonely childhood that she had tried  
so hard to forget. "You always pressured me to go to an upper-class private school, and if it weren't for Brad pushing the whole public school idea, I would have been stuck in that awful place for all of high school." Halle rose her gaze from the  
floor and looked at Georgiana as she continued to speak. "You constantly neglected me, never showed me any love or affection, and the only time I ever saw you smile was when you were praising Brad on his latest achievements..." Something inside of  
her suddenly just snapped, and she angrily glared at her mother as she prepared to use her trump card. "The only time I can actually remember you somewhat caring for me as your daughter was before what happened on my ninth birthday..."

"Halle, stop." Georgiana flashed her a hateful, warning glare as she held up a hand to silence her. "That's enough. We don't need to discuss that in front of our...audience."

Halle just rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Typical. Even now, you're still trying to protect your image."

The guys in Second Unit all shot each other fleeting glances. Yachigusa seemed very uncomfortable to be witnessing this argument, and Asano was just annoyed by all the yelling and just wanted it to stop. Kyobashi was aggravated by two-faced women like  
Georgiana in general, and despite the fact that Tennoji was pissed at Halle for not telling him the truth about her background, and that his own girlfriend Sam lied to him about it too, he couldn't help but sympathize with Halle as her mother berated  
her ruthlessly in front of everyone. Kirisawa was on edge and looking for an opening to break up this argument, and Hanai stood dumbfounded in silence as he processed just how horrible his partner's childhood had been and how bad her parents acted  
towards to her. She had suffered through so much, and yet... She had managed to rise above it all and become such a strong woman.

Not that he would ever tell her that in a million years, of course.

Georgiana awkwardly shifted her weight from one leg to the other as she kept up her pretentious attitude. "...well, what do you know about being a mother, anyways!? You've never had any children of your own, let alone even be in a relationship."

Halle was almost stunned that Georgiana had completely forgotten about her only granddaughter. "...Mom, are you forgetting about Ellie?"

"What about her?" Georgiana looked Halle up and down with a look of disgust. "She's your brother's child, not yours. Meredith is Ellie's real mother."

Halle let out a sharp breath in exasperation. "Ellie doesn't even _remember_ Meredith! She was two when she passed away!"

Georgiana raised an eyebrow as she shot a thousand daggers at Halle with her judgmental stare. "So, what? That just automatically makes you Meredith's replacement?"

Halle just shook her head no as she frowned depressingly. "No, of course not... But I'm the closest thing she has to a mother."

Georgiana stiffened her posture as she was nearly pushed over the edge with irritation, getting on her last nerve. "You are _not_ her mother."

That sharp tongue-lashing delivered by Georgiana shot two people through the heart as soon as she said it. Halle was one of them for sure, but the other...

Was Hanai.

Hanai stared onward in shock at Georgiana as he pictured Ellie's innocent, smiling face in his mind, and how Halle was the one who always put that smile there. He remembered how well the two of them got along and acted just like a real mother and daughter,  
despite each of their hardships. He knew how hard Halle worked to raise Ellie and give her the life she deserved, and to have those efforts just be discredited and ignored by Georgiana was...awful. Halle worked her _ass_ off to be a mother-like  
figure to Ellie, and Georgiana dismissed it just like that?

Watching all of this just made Hanai feel bad for his partner. No wonder Halle was so damn secretive about her private life...

Halle's eyes watered ever so slightly as her lip quivered from her mother's harsh words, and she dug her nails into the palms of her hands as she angrily shouted at Georgiana. "Well I'm more of a mother to her than you ever were to me...!"

Time seemed to slow down entirely as Georgiana's face twisted in pain from that insult, and she drew her hand back. Everyone shouted altogether in protest as Georgiana brought her hand forwards with great force and slapped her hand right across Halle's  
face with a deafening crack. 

* * *

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**...wow, I actually wrote something. Shocking, right? XD I'm sorry guys, I've just been so busy lately. Well, here's an update for you!**

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 **...what a horrible place to stop though, right? XD I'm sorryyyyyyy... I don't mean to leave you with terrible cliffhangers, but it just sort of...happens.**

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 **Georgiana... WHAT A BITCHHHHHHHH! Am I right? Holy crap... Writing this chapter was almost painful for me because of that heated argument...phew.**

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 **Anywho, look forward to the next chapter! It's chapter 4/4 of this arc, and your patience will be worth it once you get to read this!**

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 **Song credit: "King of Anything" by Sara Bareilles (I don't own the lyrics, she does)**

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 **Read, review, and enjoy! :)**


	26. Chapter 26

"MOM!" Brad lunged forward right as Georgiana's palm came into contact with Halle's face at an impeccable force, but by the time he was able to grab his mother's arm and pull it away, it was too late.

Halle's head jerked to the side from the hard slap, and she stared down at the floor in shock as her short hair fell down and covered her face. A stream of blood escaped her lips and spilled from her mouth, and she cautiously reached up to gingerly touch her swollen cheek.

"Georgiana..." Akihiro stared at his wife in shock, completely appalled that she had just slapped their daughter for the first time.

Tennoji angrily knitted his brows together as he glared at Georgiana. "Hey! What the hell d'yah think yer doin'!?"

Kirisawa stepped in-between the two women with a cross look on his face, holding his arms up as he barked at them. "Alright, you two, separate! Now!"

"Halle...!" Brad looked at his sister in horror, watching as she wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. He took a step forward and motioned to hold out his arms to her, but someone else beat him to it.

"Mitchell!" Hanai instantly ran forwards without giving it a second thought, running straight up to his partner with an intensely worried look on his face.

Halle looked up at him helplessly in shock, still numbly holding onto her cheek as she felt herself struggling not to cry. She instinctively turned to him instead of Brad, and she took a few steps forward to meet him half way. "H-Hanai... I..."

Hanai just wordlessly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and tugged her towards the exit. "Come on. Let's go."

Halle awkwardly squirmed from his touch and waved her arms back and forth in front of her face. "B-but, you're on duty... Hanai, you can't just leave!"

Hanai didn't seem to care as he just glanced over at Kirisawa with a look of determination on his face. "Boss, I'm taking her home."

"Go ahead, Hanai." Kirisawa gave his senior detective his nod of approval, understanding fully well that comforting Halle right now was more important than the job at hand. And besides, it wasn't like the rest of Second Unit couldn't handle being security for the rest of the evening just because Hanai wouldn't be there. "Just come in early tomorrow to fill out tonight's report."

"Got it." Hanai nodded his head as he led his stunned partner towards the door.

Brad wordlessly looked on as Hanai just led his sister out of the green room, and Halle was leaning up against his side as he supported her weight with an arm around her shoulders. She seemed comfortable enough around Hanai to actually allow him to support her, and Brad found that insanely shocking, considering just how stubborn and independent he knew his sister was. Slowly, a tiny grin crept up onto Brad's face as he watched them go, and although he felt a little dejected by his little sister not instantly running to him, he was just happy she had found someone capable and worthy enough of comforting her whenever he wasn't there for her.

"Georgiana, darling, I think you should step out for a bit and cool your head..." Akihiro cautiously approached his wife with a look of concern, and he gently placed his hands on her arms.

Georgiana looked shocked herself at this turn of events, and she numbly just nodded her head and followed her husband's lead. "Yes, dear, you're right..."

* * *

"Damn..." Hanai cursed to himself as he entered the dark parking lot outside the convention center with Halle right by his side. "I came here with the guys, and we all rode in the van together. I can't just take it and leave them stranded here."

Halle nodded her head and began to rummage around in her purse for her car keys. "Oh... Well, that's okay. We can just take my car."

"...which one is your car?" Hanai looked around at all of the lavish sports cars parked all around him, trying not to let the little boy inside of him die from fangirling over them too hard. He especially couldn't let his partner figure out that he had a weakness for cars.

"That one." Halle pointed to her jet-black car as she handed Hanai her keys. "Here."

Hanai almost fell over when she pointed to the one car he was admiring the most. "...the black Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. _That's_ your car?" He was completely floored by her gorgeous car, and he freaked out a little when she carelessly just placed her keys in his hand. "And why are you giving me the keys!?"

"It was a present from my father when I graduated at the top of my class from the police academy." Halle just shrugged her shoulders, then frowned as she let out a quiet sigh. "And I'm sorry, I'm just too upset to drive... I hope you don't mind?"

"Nope. I don't mind. I don't mind at all." Hanai was a little too quick to answer as he vigorously shook his head no and practically ran towards the driver's side of the Corvette.

"...thanks, Hanai." Halle cracked a small grin as she witnessed this cute, boyish side of her partner.

Hanai was a bit of a car geek, huh? ...she would have to take note of that for future reference. It was actually kind of...adorable.

The two of them went about ten minutes in absolute silence as Hanai began driving Halle home at this late time of night. It wasn't awkward or tense, it was a comfortable silence. When they first were partnered up, the silence between them was always awkward. But not so much anymore...

And then, Hanai decided that he just had to break the comfortable silence between the two of them and say something.

"So... About what happened back there." Hanai brought up the awkward subject, keeping his eyes on the road as he did so. "Are you going to be okay? Is Ellie with you this week?"

"No, she's not..." Halle slowly shook her head no as she rubbed her arms comfortingly. "But I'll be fine. I wouldn't want her to see me like this anyways..." She sighed and looked down at her feet, trying to pull herself together.

Hanai dubiously looked over at her when they came to a stop at a red light, concerned for her well-being. "...so I'm just taking you back to an empty apartment right now."

"Yes." Halle simply nodded her head as a melancholy tone took over her usually-cheerful voice, which didn't go unnoticed by Hanai at all. "It's fine. I'm used to living alone most of the time, anyways..."

Hanai quickly flashed her a worried glance as he continued to drive. "Mitchell, are you sure you're gonna be okay?"

Halle hesitated a little too long before she answered quietly under her breath. "...yeah, I'll be fine."

"..."

"..."

"You're definitely not fine." Hanai suddenly cut the wheel and turned right at the intersection instead of left, knowing fully well that his partner was just putting on a brave face, despite what she was really feeling deep down inside.

"Hanai, you just missed the turn...!" Halle squeaked out her surprise as she dropped her jaw, almost glaring at Hanai in confusion.

"I know." Hanai replied confidently as he kept his eyes firmly on the road. "You're coming back to my place tonight."

"Hanai...!" Halle's eyebrows shot up and disappeared into her hairline as she stared at him with slightly-reddened cheeks.

Hanai just furrowed his brow as he continued to drive, knowing exactly what face she was making without even having to look at her. "No complaining. You're staying the night."

"B-but..." Halle awkwardly rose a finger in her defense, only to be cut off by her confident and cunning partner.

"Hey, what did I just say?" Hanai snapped at her in annoyance, treating her no differently than he always did, which was strangely comforting to Halle.

"...sorry." Halle frowned ever so slightly, trying to fight off the urge to smile at his usual demeanor.

Hanai paused for a moment before quietly sighing and muttering to himself under his breath. "...geez, who do you think I am? Like I could really leave you alone when you're this upset..."

Halle definitely heard all of that, and she stared at him in bewilderment as a tiny smile slowly found its way to her lips. "Thanks, Hanai."

"Yeah, yeah... Don't worry about it." Hanai awkwardly averted her gaze as he kept his eyes on the road, feeling a little embarrassed himself.

* * *

"Here." Hanai lightly pressed an ice pack to Halle's cheek, glancing at her raspberry eyes with a look of worry.

Halle winced as soon as the cold touched her cheek, reacting to it instantly as she instictively tried to draw her face back away from it. "Ah...! Ouch..."

"Sorry." Hanai held a small towel over the ice pack to make it feel less cold as he handed it off to Halle to hold. "I know it's cold, but we really need to get the swelling down."

"I know... It just sucks." Halle frowned as she lightly pressed the ice pack to her swollen cheek where her mother had slapped her just half an hour ago.

Hanai rolled his eyes at her pouty look. "Well, just suck it up for a bit, Mitchell." He got up from where he sat on the couch and motioned to disappear down the hallway towards his bedroom. "Make yourself at home. I'll be right back, I'm jut going to grab you something to change into."

"Okay... Thanks." Halle quietly answered him as she watched Hanai go, frowning even more as she leaned her cheek further against the ice pack.

They had arrived at Hanai's apartment just a few minutes ago, and Hanai's first concern was to treat Halle's swollen cheek with an ice pack. Halle had no trouble at all finding her way to the couch and making herself comfortable, having been over at Hanai's place once before. Except this time, it was a little less awkward; Hanai wasn't shirtless and purposely giving her a hard time for getting flustered over it. But really, who _wouldn't_ get flustered over a half-naked man suddenly walking into the room!?

Hanai suddenly came back around the corner of the hallway and placed a bundle of clothes in Halle's lap. "I'm back. Here."

"...these again?" Halle picked up the shirt and pair of gym shorts he had lent her last time, remembering how she had just washed and returned these very same clothes to him two weeks prior.

"Sorry, it's all I really have." Hanai smiled bashfully as an apologetic look came up onto his face.

"No, it's okay..." Halle looked up at the standing Hanai with a smile as she held the ice pack pressed lightly onto her swollen cheek. "Thanks. Anything is better than this dress..." She looked down at the ridiculously expensive dress her mother had forced her to wear for the party, and all of the dress's fabric practically engulfed Hanai's entire couch.

What she said had struck a chord with Hanai, and he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, I didn't really get the chance to tell you earlier, but..."

"What, Hanai?" Halle looked up at him curiously, tilting her head to the side slightly in confusion.

Hanai awkwardly averted her eyes that pierced right through his soul, reaching back with one hand and grabbing the back of his neck. "It looks really good on you. The dress, I mean..."

Halle became awkwardly flustered at the compliment, and her cheeks grew rosey-red. "O-oh... Thanks."

"..."

"..."

"Umm... I'm gonna go get changed now." Halle awkwardly stood from the couch with the pile of clothes wrapped up in her arms, and she quickly dismissed herself and began to walk towards the bathroom.

"Uh, yeah... Right." Hanai stepped aside so she could pass, trying to regain his senses from that moment of awkwardness as he looked at her. "Can I make you some tea in the meantime?"

Halle paused and turned to flash him a fleeting, bashful glance. "Oh, I'm fine. I don't want to put you out..."

"It's fine. I was going to make some for myself anyways." Hanai justified his reasoning with his typical, cocky smirk, already back to his old self again. "Earl Grey, right?"

Halle paused awkwardly as she stared at him. "...you remember the tea I like?"

Hanai flashed her a scrutinizing look as he disappeared into the kitchen. "...I notice things, okay?"

"You're right, I'm sorry..." Halle bit her lip in attempt to hold back her laughter, and she smiled as she began hearing him putter around the kitchen for a teapot. "Yes, please. Thank you."

"No problem."

* * *

"...I'm starting to make a habit out of this, aren't I?"

Halle came out of the bathroom fully changed into the set of baggy boys clothes Hanai had lent her, and the detective in the kitchen just looked up and simply _laughed_ at the sight of his partner.

"Ahahah!" Hanai let out that cute laugh of his as his eyes instictively closed, and he half covered up his mouth as the warm sound escaped his lips. "Like I said last time, it suits you." He flashed his partner a smirk as she sat down on a bar stool on the opposite side of the counter from him.

"Hey...!" Halle took offense to that and flashed him a glare, but she was more amused than annoyed by Hanai's comment as she bit back the smile threatening to come up onto her face.

"Here." Hanai slid a cup of steaming tea towards her, smirking at her silly reaction from a moment ago.

"Thanks." Halle accepted it eagerly, grateful to finally have something warm on her stomach. Perhaps a cup of Earl Grey would help relax her nerves...

"There's four sugars in it." Hanai told her as he began cleaning up the minor mess in the kitchen, keeping his back to her as he did so.

"...again with your observations about me." Halle wore a smirk of her own, staring at her partner's broad back that was facing her. "You're not stalking me, are you?"

"What? Of course not!" Hanai whipped around incredibly fast at her playful accusation. "Don't flatter yourself." He came back over and leaned across the counter, resting his arms on it as he looked directly into her eyes. "I'm a profiler. It's my _job_ to notice things, like your childish taste for a lot of sugar in your tea."

"Hey!" Halle dropped her jaw at that comment, laughing a little.

"You brought that upon yourself." Hanai flashed her a smirk as he drew away from her, going back to washing the dishes directly across from where she was sitting.

"Ugh..." Halle pouted a little as she stared down absentmindedly at her cup of tea, taking a little sip from it. She already felt ten times better, but that was mostly because Hanai was joking around with her as he usually did. "Um, Hanai..." She hesitantly looked up at the man in front of her, feeling very nervous all of a sudden about what she was going to ask him.

"Hmm?" Hanai paused washing the dishes and looked back at her, ushering her to say whatever it was she was going to say.

Halle stopped and looked back down at the counter, unsure of how to bring this up. "Do you... Hate me now?"

"What?" Hanai widened his eyes in shock, dropping his jaw a little. "Why would you ask that?"

"Because I lied to you..." Halle frowned as she looked down in shame. "About my family, I mean..." She cautiously looked up at him, expecting to be met with an angry expression.

Halle was floored when she saw that Hanai looked to be more stunned than angry by her question. But she was more shocked by what he said.

"Don't be ridiculous." Hanai shook his head no and went back to washing his dishes. "There's no way I could hate you, Mitchell. Especially not over something like that."

"O-oh..." Halle blinked at him, unsure of what exactly he meant by that.

Hanai caught on to how strange that sounded, and he looked back up at her as he began to elaborate. "I-I just mean that I already knew you were a private person, so... Although tonight came as a bit of a shock, I wasn't all that surprised to learn that you were hiding something like this from us."

"Oh..." Halle looked back down at her tea as she began to silently sip from her cup.

"Why did you ask me if I hated you?" Hanai looked at her dubiously, shocked that she could even think that's what he felt towards her.

"Well..." Halle depressingly looked off to the side as she spoke. "Tennoji looked really pissed, and I..." She suddenly stopped herself, pressing her lips together as she nearly said something that would be a little embarrassing to say aloud.

"And you what?" Hanai ushered her to continue, wanting to know what she was trying to say.

Halle looked directly into Hanai's eyes as she gathered the courage to just say it. "...I wouldn't be able to stand it if you hated me too."

"Oh." Hanai stopped what he was doing as he stared back at her. "Well... I don't. I don't get emotional about these sort of things."

"So I've noticed." Halle scoffed a little under her breath as a warm smile encompassed her face.

Hanai set down the towel he was using to dry the dishes and leaned forwards, getting right up in Halle's face as he looked at her. "I don't care whether you're a rich company heiress, or a middle-class single mom." He paused as he looked at her stunned face, getting lost within her eyes that were swimming with confusion. "You're still the same obnoxious, clumsy, yet amazingly strong-willed woman who I'm proud to have as my partner."

"Hanai..." Halle let out the breath she had been holding, feeling absolutely touched by what he had said. Never had he once admitted that he enjoyed being partnered up with her, let alone _proud_ of her...

She had no idea he felt that way about her.

Hanai awkwardly cleared his throat at the sight of the huge smile his partner was giving him, and he quickly changed the subject. "Anyways... Do you want to talk about what happened tonight?"

"Not really." Halle frowned and crossed her arms, looking off at the wall to the side.

"Uh huh." Hanai rose an eyebrow at the woman, not buying what she said at all.

"What? I don't!" Halle snapped at him, sensing that he was doubting her.

Hanai snorted a little at her hilariously angry face. "You're a terrible liar, Mitchell. I can see right through you."

"Ugh..." Halle's angry demeanor shattered as her embarrassment and frustration showed though. "Am I really that obvious?"

"Yeah." Hanai reached forward and tapped her on the nose. "You have everything you're thinking written on your stupid face."

"Hey!" Halle dropped her jaw at him, getting angry all over again for that snide remark.

Hanai just rolled his eyes, urging her to speak. "Come on. Out with it."

"Out with what?" Halle tilted her head to the side as she stared at him in confusion.

Hanai just looked at her dubiously. Hadn't she already figured out that he could practically read her mind? "You're practically dying to either tell me something, or ask me something. So which is it?"

Halle awkwardly shifted in her seat, looking away from Hanai once more out of guilt. "I just...feel obligated to explain why I lied."

"Why?" Hanai looked at her in confusion, not understanding why she felt obligated to explain _anything_ to him. It's not like she _had_ to tell him every single thing about herself. She never had before, so he wasn't really expecting that to change now...

"I don't know..." Halle folded her hands in her lap and looked down. "I mean, I've wanted to tell you that I was one of _those_ Mitchells for a long time now, but..." She paused, struggling to force the words out that she had been trying to keep a secret all this time. "I was just ashamed, and I didn't know how to tell you."

"Ashamed?" Hanai looked at her quizzically, engaging in this conversation with his complete, undivided attention. "Of what?"

"My family." Halle answered simply as she looked at him. "As you witnessed tonight, they're not the best of people." She looked down in shame, recalling the events of tonight's party with a sullen frown on her face.

"Yeah..." Hanai absentmindedly formed that response as the sudden image of Georgiana slapping Halle hard across the face flashed before his mind like a horrible flashback, and he instictively began to reach out and cup Halle's cheek in his hand.

Halle instantly became flustered at his sudden touch, and her cheeks grew red. "H-hey, what are you..."

"Relax, stupid." Hanai rolled his eyes, taking a close look at the cheek that was swollen just twenty minutes ago. "I'm just checking to see if the swelling went down."

Halle scoffed as she failed to think of a good response to that, bitterly looking down at the floor as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Y-you're the stupid one..."

"Hah." Hanai just laughed as he pulled back and looked at her with an all-knowing smirk. "Even though you're the one who's getting all worked up?"

"Shut up!" Halle snapped at him as her cheeks grew even redder, and she shut her eyes in frustration. "I'm trying to have a serious conversation with you!"

"Sorry." Hanai smothered his laughter as he let her continue.

"Anyways... I guess I was just embarrassed that you would find out about my mother." Halle reached up and gingerly touched her once-swollen cheek, remembering the horrible woman who had hit her so thoughtlessly an hour ago. "She's really the only one I'm embarrassed of..."

"I can see why." Hanai frowned as he looked at how heartbroken and hurt Halle was. It just made him so angry to see her in pain like that, and it made him even angrier that there was nothing he could do about it.

"Yeah..." Halle hugged herself tightly and rubbed her hands up and down her arms, comforting herself as she began to recall the darkest parts of her childhood. "My brother and I are super close, and my father and I get along, despite the fact that he never stands up to my mother on my behalf..."

Hanai remembered something about the argument he witnessed earlier at the mention of that. "Yeah, I noticed that he didn't butt in earlier between you two." He frowned, furrowing his brow in frustration. "Why is that? I thought fathers were normally over-protective of their daughters."

"It's just always been like that." Halle shrugged her shoulders, not really knowing the answer to that herself. "When it comes to my mother, my father won't say anything. She's got him wrapped around her finger..." She bitterly glared off at nothing in particular, releasing her pent-up frustration on the matter with every word she spoke. "It's like he doesn't have the ability to speak his own mind the second she tells him to be quiet."

"Ah." Hanai nodded his head, calmly listening to what she had to say.

"It was awful..." Halle whispered those hushed words under her breath as a grievous look came upon her face. "My childhood, I mean." She looked up at Hanai as she decided to finally spill the rest of it to him. "What have I told you about it already?"

"Not much." Hanai shook his head as he thought back on it. "Just that your mother is the reason you play piano and sing, Brad's the one who got you into baseball, and you met Sam in high school by hitting her in the face with a baseball bat and have been best friends ever since."

"...oh yeah." Halle remembered telling him those stories, and she took in a deep breath as she gathered the courage to finally tell her partner the rest.

The rest of everything he didn't already know about her.

"Well, Hanai... My childhood wasn't exactly... _bright_. I'm sure you heard me say this earlier during our argument, but... I was a mistake, and I was never supposed to be born." Halle paused and looked at him to see if he would say anything, but when she took note of him just quietly listening to her, she took it as encouragement for her to continue. "When my mother found out she was pregnant with me, she was hoping it would be another boy so she would have another excellent son like Brad." Halle's entire face became immensely depressed as she looked down and off to the side. "When she found out it was a girl... She was instantly disappointed. And I've been painfully aware of that fact from the moment I was born." She looked back up at Hanai, who was still listening to every word. "My mother has compared me to Brad my whole life, saying things like how I'm nothing like him, and I should work hard to be such a success like my older brother..." She scoffed bitterly, shaking her head as these unwanted memories came back to her. "From the moment I turned three, she hired me a personal tutor who began teaching me dancing, piano, violin, singing... I was home-schooled up until high school. I had a really tough time transitioning from a private tutor to going to a public high school, and that's when I met Sam." The tiniest flicker of a smile came up onto Halle's face as she recalled meeting Sam, and it seemed to brighten her mood just a little. "She was my first friend, and that's when my life started to look up. At home, whenever I actually _did_ see my mother, which was when she wasn't too busy planning a party or going to various social events, all she ever did was scold me for not being good enough and give me extra things to study." Halle slumped down onto the counter, resting her chin on her overlaying hands as she stared blankly ahead at Hanai's chest that was positioned across from her. "I would go over to Sam's house after school every day under the ruse that I was doing homework just so I could get away from her. Seeing how Sam and her mother interacted with one another so lovingly made me...jealous. Sam's mother treated me like I was her own, and I was always welcome over any time. That was the first time I had ever experienced real love and affection..."

Hanai had never heard a more depressing story in his entire life. He reached out and gave Halle's arm a little reassuring pat, not really being the comforting type of person who knew exactly what to do. He just knew how to listen. "What about Brad? He loves you."

"I know that, but... We're eight years apart." Halle sat back up and looked at Hanai with a frown on her face. "I didn't really get to see him much when I was younger. Whenever I did see him though, we would go out in the yard and play catch." She smiled fondly at the memory of her younger self playing catch with her brother in the yard, laughing and having fun together. "That's how I got into baseball. I wanted to join my high school's baseball team, but when I pitched the idea to my mother, she instantly rejected it." Halle's face melted back into that frown, and she folded her arms over each other on the counter. "The only way I could get her to agree was if I joined my school's show choir club to continue my musical studies, and... Well, you know the rest."

Hanai listened to what Halle had to say with an open mind, but he was confused about one thing. "So, what happened when you joined the police academy?"

"My mother _freaked_." Halle laughed nervously at his question, recalling the screeching and verbal slashes her mother had delivered to her the day she joined the police academy. "I was _supposed_ to go to Johoku University and get a business degree so I could help out at M.I.C, but... Well, I didn't do that." She scoffed a little under her breath and began to nervously twiddle her fingers, staring down at them as she did so. "For once in my life, I didn't ask my mother's permission, and I did something that I wanted for myself. My father eventually coaxed my mother into letting me do what I wanted, at least for a little while." Halle bobbed her head to the side and raised her eyebrows, remembering the ridiculous argument that ensued between them after that. "She initially tried to disown me, but I own 25% of the company, so that didn't really work out for her in the end."

"You own 25% of the company?" Hanai looked at her curiously. This was the first he was hearing of it.

"Mmhmm." Halle nodded her head, as if it was the most natural thing in the world for a twenty-four-year-old to own 25% of the stock of Japan's biggest technology company. "Brad and I both do, and my parents share the remaining 50%. Once I turned eighteen, my parents went from owning 75% to 50%, and I got that 25%." She casually explained to Hanai how the company was divided, and Hanai couldn't help but sweatdrop at how easily she talked about such large sums of money. "Even though I don't work for the company, I still own the shares, and I can have a say in the company as much as I want." Halle brought her cup of tea to her lips as an evil smirk came up onto her face. "If my mother wants to take that from me, she'd have to take me to court, and she'd lose. She knows that all too well."

Hanai just sweatdropped again at the evil aura surrounding his partner for that brief moment. "You don't think she would actually try something like that, do you...?"

"I wouldn't put it past her." Halle shook her head and sighed, relaxing her tense shoulders. "You know... She didn't use to be this bad."

"Really?" Hanai looked at her curiously, genuinely wanting to know more about his partner.

"Yeah." Halle absentmindedly stared down at her cup of tea, looking at her reflection in the dark-colored liquid. "She was tolerable up until my ninth birthday..."

"Oh. You mentioned something about that during the argument earlier, didn't you?" Hanai posed his question as his curiosity was piqued.

"Yeah, but my mother shut me up before I could say anything else about it..." Halle frowned as she continued to look down.

"Why? What's so bad that you couldn't say earlier?" Hanai looked to her for answers, wondering if she would tell him even something like this.

Halle seemed to grow cold as an uncomfortable aura surrounded her. She appeared to be remembering something horrible as a terrified look came across her face. "I... Well, something awful happened to me on that day that caused M.I.C. to take a huge financial hit that we almost didn't recover from. My mother blames me for nearly bankrupting the company fifteen years ago, and ever since then, she's just felt as if I owe her everything because of it..."

"Mitchell, what..." Hanai didn't even know what to say to that as he stared at her in shock. "What happened to you?"

Halle shied away from his gaze as she only seemed to draw into herself the more Hanai prodded her for answers. "I... I'm sorry, Hanai... I just can't..."

"No, I'm sorry... I shouldn't have asked." Hanai looked stunned that the dark expression his partner wore, not expecting her to have such a horrible secret plaguing her. Just what else was this girl hiding...?

Hanai felt like he understood his partner a lot better after hearing about her upbringing, even though there was still something she wouldn't tell him just yet. But... Well, there was just one more thing eating at him, and he couldn't let her go when they would leave for work the next day without asking her about it first.

Hanai put on a brave face and looked up to meet his partner's eyes. "So... What was all that about an arranged marriage earlier?"

"Oh..." Halle awkwardly looked away from him, a bit uncomfortable discussing the topic with Hanai, since she...sort of...well, had feelings for him. "That's a new development. My mother pulled me aside today at the party and just suddenly told me that I am to marry some rich man with a good reputation in order to better my family's already great reputation." Halle buried her feelings for Hanai within her subconsciousness as she spoke, getting angry as she recalled how horrible her mother was in even doing something like this to her behind her back. "She didn't even ask me what I thought of it, she just forced me on it. Naturally, I refused even the _thought_ of an arranged marriage as soon as she told me about it, but she just wouldn't listen... She never does." Halle closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, slowly letting it all out, along with all the stress she had been carrying. "Today was the first time I feel like I finally got my point across to her, and _this_ is how it ended..." She pointed to her cheek with an annoyed look on her face.

"How are you feeling, by the way?" Hanai looked at her with a flash of concern. "Did the cut on the inside of your cheek stop bleeding?"

"Yeah, I'm okay..." Halle looked away from his stunningly attractive _'I'm worried about you'_ expression, suddenly finding herself unable to meet his eyes. "Thanks, Hanai."

Hanai looked down at the counter as his anger from earlier began to bubble up, and he suddenly looked up and stared at Halle. "She was wrong, you know."

"Hmm?" Halle stared at her partner in confusion, not sure what he was talking about all of a sudden.

Hanai looked right into her raspberry-pink eyes as he leveled his honest, true opinion with her. "You _are_ Ellie's mother."

Halle was left completely breathless at that statement as she exhaled his name sharply. "Hanai..."

Hanai began to let his anger towards Georgiana show as he paced back and forth in his kitchen, getting all defensive on Halle's behalf. "She doesn't see how hard you work to take care of her, or how much you love Ellie as if she were your own child. She doesn't understand that you juggle a career and raising Ellie just because you want to do both of those things. And she doesn't get how you sacrifice everything for her, just how any mother would for her daughter...whoa!"

Halle didn't let Hanai finish what he was saying before she suddenly stood up from her barstool, walked right up to Hanai, wrapped her arms around his torso, and pulled him into the tightest hug ever.

"Thank you for saying that. Really..." Halle thanked him as the tears she was holding back began to prick at her eyes, and she felt herself beginning to cry as she rested her head on Hanai's broad chest.

Hanai was floored by the sudden hug, unsure of what to do as he cautiously brought his arms down to pat her on the back. "Mitchell, don't cry..."

"I'm sorry..." Halle gasped as she tried to catch her breath, but she had just opened the floodgates, and the tears were just not stopping now. "I just can't help it..."

"Don't cry, Halle..." Hanai looked down at her helplessly as he slipped up and called her by her first name. "I don't know what to do if you cry..."

Halle looked up at him with tearful eyes, hiccuping every time she tried to catch her breath and stop crying. "S-sorry, Hanai, I'm trying to s-stop, I just c-can't..."

"It's okay... Shh." Hanai absentmindedly began running his fingers through her hair, letting his partner cry on his chest as she did so. "You've been bottling all this up for so long, it's no wonder you're this upset..."

Halle buried her face in his chest and looked at their reflection in the refrigerator door, staring at the image of her in Hanai's arms. She was almost...mesmerized by it, and she didn't want to let go. "Can we just...stay like this for a little while?"

"Yeah." Hanai nodded his head, being strangely considerate for once and abiding by her wishes.

"Thanks, Hanai... For everything."

"It's no problem, Mitchell."

* * *

 **...whoa. That was...a lot. Finally, part 4/4 of this arc has been published...**

 **Wow. So...everyone found out about Halle, so now how is it going to go down when she goes into work tomorrow? Now that this fluff is over (for the most part) what's going to happen once the plot picks back up? Well, not that really important information wasn't released in these past four chapters... But you get what I mean!**

 **Anyways. You'll just have to wait and see what happens!**

 **Read, review, and enjoy! :)**


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